Phantom Dreams
by KimuraSato
Summary: Life was finally on track for Danny Fenton. He was doing well in school. He had great friends. Bullying was at an all time low. Ghost threats were at a minimum. Everything seemed perfect. Until a new threat arrived in Amity Park. (Kwan x Danny)
1. Chapter 1

**Phantom Dreams**

**Pairing:** Kwan x Danny

**Warnings:** Homosexual relationships. Main DP characters of the story are in their senior year of high school and are 18 years of age. Violence. Foul language.

**Disclaimer:** Danny Phantom is a product of Nickelodeon. All characters in this story are imaginary.

**Summary: **Life was finally on track for Danny Fenton. He was doing well in school. He had great friends. Bullying was at an all time low. Ghost threats were at a minimum. Everything seemed perfect. Until a new threat arrived in Amity Park.

**Originally Written: **January 2013-?

**Chapter 01**

It was one of those days where he just knew something would go wrong. His alarm clock rung an hour earlier than usual. His hand shot out to shut off the obnoxious noise, but in his groggy state, he lost control of his powers, and his hand turned intangible and sank through the clock. The noise faded, thankfully, but the clock was busted and flashed a random series of numbers. Danny groaned as he rolled onto his back and rubbed at his tired eyes. Even as he wished to return to the realm of dreams, he knew it was hopeless to even attempt going back to sleep. He remained in bed as he felt too tired and too lazy to get up right then, so he laid there with his arm thrown over his eyes.

Twenty minutes of blessed blankness with no troubling thoughts or worries passed before Danny finally decided to climb out of bed. Scratching a hand through his messy mop of raven hair, he made his way over to his closet. When he stubbed his toe, he released a shout and hopped about on one foot for a good five minutes as the pain throbbed through his big toe. He hobbled the rest of the way to the closet, muttering under his breath. After throwing open the door, he began his usual routine of searching for clean clothes, making a mental note to remember to do his laundry over the coming weekend since his mother forced him to start doing it himself as a way to prepare him for the wonderfully independent life at college.

With a sigh, Danny rubbed the back of his neck before he sifted through the growing pile of clothes. He pulled out a white shirt and discovered a large hole in it. Frowning, he tried to remember how the hole got there, but coming up with no answer, he tossed it aside and sought out another shirt. After ten minutes of searching, he had an outfit ready. With that done, he headed for the bathroom, deciding to take a shower before school with the extra time he had. When he turned on the water, he frowned at the green slime that oozed out of the shower head and splattered upon the shiny white porcelain of the tub.

"Mom!" Danny shouted as he jogged out of the bathroom and down the stairs. He found his mother in the kitchen where she was making breakfast. "Mom, what's wrong with the water? It's green!"

"Oh, that," Maddie said as she turned off the stove. "We were working on a new invention. Unfortunately, there was a small miscalculation." She winced as she squeezed forefinger to thumb together. "So we won't have running water for about a day." She tilted her head as she stared at Danny. "You're up early today."

"I guess I set my alarm wrong last night. And I guess I won't be taking a shower." Danny sighed, thinking it was strange that whatever invention his parents were working on caused ectoplasm to fill their pipes. For a brief moment, he wondered what sort of invention it could be then decided it was best not to know.

After leaving the kitchen, Danny climbed the stairs and returned to his bedroom to change for school. He tore off his blue pajamas and pulled on a pair of blue jeans that hugged his hips. He chose a white shirt with the image of a cartoon monkey hitting its head with a wooden mallet. Danny ran a brush through his hair as he walked over to his desk. At the sight of the scattered books and papers, he groaned.

"I meant to organize this all last night," Danny muttered. After setting down the brush, he gathered the papers into a pile. Last night was a blur in his mind, and he couldn't recall half the work he did. He stuffed the papers into a textbook and shoved that into his already full book bag, cramming the thick book into the bag with all his force.

With the book bag slung over his shoulder, Danny jogged back down the stairs. He sat at the kitchen table for the breakfast that his mother already set before his seat at the table. Picking up a fork, he prepared to dig in, but his appetite left him when he noticed bits of his eggs attempting to wander off the plate.

"Actually," Danny said as he set his fork back on the table, "I should get to school early. I still have a few assignments to finish." He stood up and snatched his keys from the hook by the door. He fled from the room before his mother had the chance to protest his departure without eating first. Danny jogged down the walkway to where his car was parked at the end of it. Jack was eager to buy Danny a nice, brand new car, but Maddie gave them a budget so small that all they could find was a used white Volkswagen Beetle. Danny complained for many months after getting the car, but now he was happy to have one that actually ran. Tucker's parents wouldn't buy him a car until after graduation.

When he arrived at Casper High, Danny headed first for the student store since the cafeteria was only open during lunch. The student store mostly sold snack items: candy bars, chips, bagels and sometimes they had hot dogs. In the winter, they even sold hot chocolate. Danny was early enough to get there before a line formed and had time to look over his options. After a few minutes, he paid for a chocolate muffin. With food in hand, Danny trotted off toward his locker. He plopped down on the floor and pulled out his textbook with the crumpled papers sticking out at odd angles.

"It's the first sign of the apocalypse! Danny's at school early!" Tucker exclaimed when he spotted his friend.

"Ha, ha! Very funny," Danny muttered before he began sorting his papers again. "I can't believe I fell asleep before finishing all of this."

"Man, you should just tell Lancer to stop forcing all this extra work on you," Tucker told him as he opened his locker.

"Are you really going to eat that for breakfast?" Sam asked, pointing at the chocolate muffin.

"It's better than eggs that move on their own." Danny took a large bite from the muffin, enjoying the chocolaty taste. "So why are you two here so early?"

"That's what I want to know." Tucker turned toward Sam with a grumpy expression on his bespectacled face. "You woke me up way too early!"

"I have a meeting I need to go to," Sam explained with a wicked smirk on her face. Tucker and Danny exchanged looks, neither liking Sam's expression as they wondered what she was planning. "I'll see you later!" With a wave, she walked down the hall.

"Do you have any idea what she could be planning?" Danny looked up at Tucker as he nibbled at his muffin.

"Not the slightest clue." Tucker sighed as he took a seat next to Danny on the floor and drew his trench coat around his body. Winter was long over, and the summer heat was creeping up on them, making Danny wonder what possessed his friend to wear such a heavy coat.

"Hm, Sam planning something," Danny mumbled then pursed his mouth to one side as he thought. "That's hardly ever a good thing." He set the muffin down so that he could finish sorting the papers into separate piles.

"It could be nothing of consequence," Tucker offered with a shrug, though doubt lingered in his eyes. Sam loved to protest things that usually ended with dragging her best friends into the situation as well. "Anyway, why do you take on so much homework all the time? It's unfair that you have so much more work than the rest of the class."

"It's not a big deal." Danny remained focused on his task. "I just can't believe I fell asleep," he repeated in a mumble, mostly to himself.

"It's because you're overworking yourself," Tucker pointed out as he reached over Danny to steal his muffin. "You're lucky there haven't been too many ghosts lately."

"There have been quite a few," Danny corrected, glaring at Tucker for taking the muffin. "I just thought it would be better if I did the ghost hunting on my own. You and Sam need time to study and do homework, too. I can handle the ghost hunting and studying. I've been handling it all year long."

"What?" Tucker exclaimed, and his brow shot up as a hint of betrayal flashed in his green eyes. "And I got this nice trench coat with all these pockets so that I could hide the Thermos and some of your parents' other inventions."

"Oh? And I thought it was for easy keeping of your PDA and stuff." Danny smirked as Tucker gave him a shove. They fell silent for a time as Danny continued sorting his papers and Tucker ate the muffin. "So," Danny said slowly, glancing briefly at the other man, "have you made a move on Sam yet?"

Tucker choked on the bite of muffin he was about to swallow. With a chuckle, Danny gave him a hard slap on the back as Tucker coughed.

"Made a move on Sam?" Tucker stuttered in a panicky manner as he glanced around the hall in fear of their conversation being overheard. "I – I don't know what you're talking about." Unable to meet eyes with Danny, he kept his gaze turned away.

"Oh, come on, Tuck!" Danny grinned. "We're best buds, right? You should be able to talk to me about this kind of stuff."

"Am-" Tucker started hesitantly. "Am I really that obvious?"

"To a keen observer such as myself," Danny replied, puffing out his chest and trying to look important. That was until a football slammed into the locker and missed his head by mere inches, making Danny flinch and duck. His hands shot up to cover his head as his papers scattered again.

"So much for a keen observer." Dash snickered as he and Kwan approached the two friends. He bent down and snatched the ball from the floor. He tapped Danny on the head with the football before he righted himself again. "Losers," he muttered with a snort.

"You know, Dash," Danny said, sighing as he tried to reorganize his papers, "it would be wise for you _not_ to abuse someone that's tutoring you."

Dash's mouth thinned, and his dark blue eyes narrowed. "You promised not to breathe a word about that to anyone," he growled, his free hand clenching and unclenching.

"Yeah, well, you promised not to hit me," Danny shot back with a stern glare of his own.

"Dash, just drop it," Kwan said, laying a hand on the blond man's shoulder. "You need his tutoring in order to graduate." He pushed his teammate down the hallway. Dash glared at Danny before he turned away in a huff and stomped off. Kwan glanced over his shoulder as he gave the pair a weak smile. Then he hurried after his friend.

"Since when do you tutor Dash?" Tucker demanded after getting over his shock.

"We started around sophomore year," Danny explained with a shrug. "The three of us all had classes we weren't doing well in, and it seemed to make sense to work together to help each other out."

"So you've been ghost hunting on your own, doing tons of extra work, and tutoring with Dash?" Tucker gaped at his friend. "How do you even have time to sleep?"

"Sometimes I wonder about that too," Danny mumbled before he looked up and grinned. "But it's not as horrible as it sounds. Oh, and you forgot about filling out applications." He snatched the muffin out of Tucker's hand and ate the leftover chunk.

"Wow, you're-" Tucker said, amazed. "You've changed a lot. When did this happen? Why am I only seeing this change now?"

Danny shrugged as he finally got all his papers organized. "I guess you don't really notice subtle changes right away. I mean, I didn't notice right away that you stopped wearing that hat or when you started wearing a trench coat or Sam's sudden dislike of chocolate. How did that happen anyway?"

"I-" Tucker started and paused to think. "I actually have no clue. She just kind of woke up and decided to swear off chocolate, I guess." His brow furrowed, trying to recall the first time Sam refused something with chocolate in it.

"But see? Change happens all the time," Danny said as he stored his completed papers in his textbook. "You won't notice all of them all of the time. Sometimes you won't notice them at all. Minor things, really. Did you even notice when I stopped wearing baggy clothes?"

Tucker looked his friend up and down. "Dude! When did that happen?"

"I bet you noticed when Sam started growing her hair out and when she stopped wearing so much black." Danny smirked knowingly at his friend.

"You're not going to say anything to her about that, are you?" Tucker gave Danny a pleading look.

"I would never betray your confidence in matters of the heart," Danny replied, almost offended that Tucker had to ask. He stood up and opened his locker to put away the textbook, along with a few other items from his book bag.

"Matters of the heart?" Sam questioned as she approached them, causing Tucker let out a squeak.

"Yeah," Danny answered, thinking quickly, "guy talk, you know." He grinned weakly as Sam eyed him.

"I guess I'll have to respect that." Sam sighed. "It's not like I talk to you two about my crushes."

"What crushes?" Tucker asked before he thought, and he cringed at how quickly he jumped to ask that question.

"If your crushes are none of my business, then my crushes are none of your business," Sam answered as she folded her arms.

"So what was that meeting about?" Danny hoped to divert the conversation toward a new topic.

"Just a little project," Sam replied vaguely with a smirk that didn't give Danny a good feeling about this "project."

* * *

**Author's Note**: I'm still kind of debating the title. =( Good title? Bad title?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02**

The day felt unbearably long, and not simply because it was much too hot in the classroom where, apparently, the air conditioners failed to work. Sam pulled hair up into a sloppy bun, not caring about neatness at the moment so long as curtain of ebony locks was no longer draped over her neck. Leaning back at her desk, she couldn't wait for the class to end as she practically counted down the minutes until the bell rang. Under normal circumstances, she would be one hundred percent focused on the class, but she had a meeting after school and she was excited to get planning on her little project. A sly smirk slipped onto her face as she already envisioned Tucker complaining about participating in it.

"Now," said their teacher Miss Henderson as she strode about the room, eying the students with a keen look, "can anyone tell me what the play is about?" She snatched a note from Miranda's hand as she was passing it to Star, who sat next to her. "Perhaps you'd like to share with us your opinion of the play, Miss Talbot." Her brown eyes pierced down into the young woman as she awaited a response.

Sam rolled her eyes because, of course, the A list members within the classroom wouldn't be paying any attention to what their teacher was saying. It was one of the, many, things that angered Sam about the A list. The A list was made up of the pretty people, the popular kids, the jocks and the cheerleaders, the people that could buy their way in because they had rich parents. But mostly, they all proved to be shallow and superficial. The A list women that shared her final class of the day tended to sit around gossiping and passing notes, rather than actually trying to learn anything. Sam would be surprised that any of them could even pass the class if it wasn't for the fact that she knew they bullied or paid the smarter students to do the work for them. It was frustrating when she, and many other students, worked hard for their grades while the A list could simply skate on by to an easy A because of threats or money. Sam had money, but she also liked expanding her brain by her own efforts. She didn't rely on someone smarter to do her work for her.

"Well," Miranda said as she tucked a lock of dark brown hair behind an ear, "obviously, _Romeo and Juliet_ tells of the greatest love that there ever was." She smiled up at their teacher, like she expected praise for her perfect answer.

"Please," Sam sneered at her, resisting the gag reflex to throw up her lunch.

"Excuse me?" Miranda snapped green eyes toward Sam and glared in disgust at the Goth woman. Sam might have adopted more colors into her wardrobe beyond black, but she still maintained a mostly Goth appearance, especially in the eyes of the narrow minded A lists who never changed the label of person after freshmen year. "Are you trying to say it's not?" Then she laughed, a wicked gleam dancing through her eyes. "Or do you think you and your little loser friend are the new and improved Romeo and Juliet, since everyone knows your parents don't like each other? Someone sure has a big head."

Sam narrowed her violet eyes at the brunette as some of the other students laughed at Miranda's comment. That was another irritating thing about the A lists inability to change their opinion: they still never got it through their thick heads that nothing was ever going to happen between Danny and her. But then, most of the A list tended to have no brains and only thought about themselves.

"I completely disagree with your answer," Paulina spoke up, surprising Sam, who could only stare at the school's queen bee with her mouth agape in her shock.

Miranda opened her mouth, looking ready to snap back at Paulina for her disagreement, but she snapped her mouth shut in a hurry with a scowl twisting her pretty face. Paulina held enough influence in the school that she could probably crush Miranda's social standing with a mere word and make the short remainder of the school year a living hell for the other senior A list. Maybe the brunette had a few brain cells after all, or at the very least the sense to be fearful of the people ranked higher than she.

"_Romeo and Juliet_ isn't about some great romance," Paulina continued, ignoring the looks that some of the other classmates were giving her. She kept her head raised high as she stared at the teacher, who was waiting to hear where her student was going with her response. "Juliet wasn't even fourteen yet, and right before their first meeting, Romeo was whining about his love for Rosaline. Two seconds later, Rosaline is all but forgotten at the sight of Juliet? Romeo and Juliet barely even knew each other before they rush into this secret marriage and end up dead for their troubles. And for what? A moment of lustful infatuation? They didn't know enough about each other to know if what they felt was really love or not. The message of the story is about why you shouldn't rush so hastily into love, it's about the folly of young love, and what we should take from the play is to not leap so fully into a relationship."

Sam swore her jaw tried to drop onto her desk in shock. Paulina had actually understood what the play was about? Paulina had actually _read_ the play? Sam was beside herself with the astonishment of that point. She would have guessed that most, if not all the A lists, and maybe even some of the other students, simply watched the latest release of the movie version of the play and only took the "greatest love story of all time" thought from it. Pinching her arm, she winced but was certain that this indeed was not a dream. But having a half ghost for a best friend, she couldn't rule out some this being some alternate reality where Paulina was actually some sort of secret nerd under her pretty face.

Or she realized in a corner of her mind, maybe she was being a bit narrow minded herself in thinking that Paulina was just some dumb, pretty face with a nasty cruel streak toward anyone that wasn't on the A list. Sam felt a little sick at the idea of being like the A list in that respect.

"That was an excellent analysis of the story, Miss Sanchez," Miss Henderson said, an impressed smile upon her aged face.

"But everyone knows that _Romeo and Juliet_ is the greatest love story," Miranda complained, pouting like a spoiled brat that refused to accept anything other than what she believed as truth.

"That's just media hype used to sell tickets to the latest remake of the movie," Miss Henderson said with a sigh that made her look exhausted. "Selling it as a great romance story appeals to young teens who identify with that whirlwind romance, leaping head first into being in love with someone they barely know."

"I still don't see why that's such a bad thing," Miranda grumbled, folding her arms over the top of her desk. "What's so bad about falling in love at first sight? It's not like we're all going to go commit double suicide."

"You can't know that," Sam argued. "People sometimes let their emotions blind them, especially when love is involved. You jump to wrong conclusions, things get blown out of proportion. Parents not wanting you to be with someone for any number of reasons that lead you to believing your only option to be with that person is to run away, or at the very extreme to take your lives so that you can be together in the next life. Shakespeare wanted to warn against such foolishness."

"Indeed," Miss Henderson agreed. "It's not that falling in love itself is bad. It's falling in love too quickly. Love is something that should grow over time as you get to know the other person. And nowadays, we also have to warn about teen pregnancy when it comes to young love. I'm sure many of you have fallen in love at least once already. But would you want to have to worry about raising a child at your age because you rushed into love and sex? What if your parents didn't accept it and kicked you out of the house? What if you boyfriend abandoned you after discovering you were pregnant?" She snapped her brown eyes all around the room, narrowing them at each other students in a way that made many of them jerk to attention like they were just scolded. "I want you all to consider how that would affect your lives before you think about taking things to the next level with any of your partners. I know prom is coming up, and that's a big night for many of you." She said it like she knew many of her students were considering prom night to be their first time with whomever they were dating. "Condoms, you'll discover, aren't one hundred percent guaranteed to prevent pregnancy."

The bell rang at that moment, and many of the students started packing up their things, happy and relieved to leave the class. Sam almost forgot about her eagerness to get to her meeting once the discussion started. After she shoved her books into her bag, she slung it over a shoulder as she stood, but she halted when she found two people standing in her way. Sam frowned, her brow knitting as she glanced between Paulina and her ever present satellite Star. She might give Paulina points for actually understanding _Romeo and Juliet_, but that didn't mean she was going to become best friends with the queen bee. If Paulina was looking to pick on her for one reason or another, or for no reason at all, Sam wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of cowing her like other non-A list students.

"I have somewhere to be," Sam said, frowning at the two women. "So if you could save the harassment for another time, that would work really well for me."

"Oh, we know exactly where you're supposed to be," Star said, smirking as she placed one hand on hip.

"Why do you say it like that?" Paulina turned a frown onto the other woman. "You make it sound like we plan on taking her to some storage closet or something and roughing her up before locking her in the closet."

Star jerked, dropping the arm at her side as the smirk fell. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Wait," Sam said, confusion clouding her brain as she tried to understand what the two women wanted of her. "That's not what you want?"

Paulina's emerald eyes landed on Sam. Then she shook her head. "I was told to meet with you after school to start discussing your little project."

"_You're_ the one that's supposed to work with me?" Sam gaped at the woman again. Maybe this was a nightmare after all. What was Principal Ishiyama thinking when she decided to have Sam and Paulina work together? Didn't she realize the two were more likely to pull out each other's hair or claw out each other's eyes, instead of getting anything done?

"You should feel lucky we even agreed to this," Star said with that annoyingly snobby air about her.

"Are you really trying to turn this into a fight?" Paulina frowned, and Star glanced away from the look on her friend's face, keeping her mouth shut. "Principal Ishiyama," she turned her attention back onto Sam, who was amazed that Paulina was actually trying to keep this as a civil conversation instead of letting it spiral downward into a fight, "knows I'm pretty good at putting together events, and she figured you'd probably prefer to speak with a peer about planning this rather than an adult who would probably try to stomp all over your ideas with restrictions."

"Wow," Sam mumbled as her eyebrows lifted in surprise. "I guess Principal Ishiyama does know a thing or two about her students." She admittedly did have to see the principal on a few occasions over the years when her protests got a little too out of hand, but she never thought that Principal Ishiyama really cared a whole lot about getting to know the students of Casper High. It still surprised her that Principal Ishiyama even agreed to let her run with this idea. Folding her arms, Sam frowned at Paulina. "All right. So where do you want to begin?"

"Well, for starters," Paulina said as she took a seat on top of one of the desks, "I think we should incorporate this into prom. I know there are a lot of people that are still dateless, and this auction would allow some of them to perhaps acquire dates."

Sam nodded to the suggest, glancing briefly at Star, who took a seat at another desk with a notebook out and ready to jot down notes. "I had the same thought. I know there are some who are already just planning to come solo to prom, or not at all, because they figure no one is going to ask them or say yes if they ask anyone. But," she frowned as she leaned against the desk, "I worry that some guys will feel disheartened about it because no one will bid on them because they're 'losers.'" She air quoted the word as she glared at the pair of A lists.

"I do understand your worry there. It'll probably be hard to get those guys to participate if they're already feeling down on themselves about not being able to get dates." Paulina's expression turned serious as she leaned back on her arms. "Why would they want to put themselves up for the humiliation of not being bid on when they already feel like they can't get a date?"

"But," Star cut in, and Sam felt nervous about what she was going to say, "there are girls that are feeling the same way, you know. Even if it's with another loser, wouldn't they still want the chance to ensure a date for themselves? No one wants to go to prom alone. That's just sad."

"You could be a little more compassionate," Sam said, wishing sometimes that Star could keep her mouth shut. "And not everyone feels that way. Some people are perfectly content with going to prom alone. They don't _need_ to have a date. And they shouldn't be forced into feeling that way. But for those that want a magical night with a date, this might be a way to allow them that chance. And it's for charity! That's got to at least encourage some people to participate. Right?" She glanced between the two women, hoping that they would agree.

"I do think that better habitats for the animals at the zoo is a good cause." Paulina nodded, though Star looked unimpressed with where the money from the auction would go. "Some of the animals' living condition really aren't the best. But," she added, and Sam tensed, wondering what idea was going on in Paulina's head, "I think we should consider putting a portion of the money aside for the school. For one thing," she waved an arm about the room, "the air conditioning is pretty shot, and considering how hot it can get here during spring and summer months, that's pretty killer on the students _and_ faculty. There's also the computers in the computer lab. They're way outdated. Even I," she pressed a hand to her chest, "know that, and I'm not all tech savvy like your friend. Music and drama clubs get really poor funding, as well as some of the under rated sports and clubs. I know football is our biggest draw, but it's not fair to the other clubs to pool all our money into football alone."

Sam blinked, impressed again by the A list. Paulina wasn't a complete snob, only thinking about the popular students and sports. "What were you thinking?" She eyed the woman warily. "Fifty-fifty?"

"I thought maybe forty-sixty would all right. That way your cause is still making the majority of the money, but the school also gets a pretty good return."

Sam pondered over the suggestion then nodded. She could agree to that compromise, and helping out the school was a good cause too. Even if they would be graduating soon, they could still do something to help the future students attending Casper High. "Now that we have that all figured out, I guess we should start discussing how to go about running this and promoting it to get guys to sign up. Tucker will be participating whether he likes it or not."

"Oh?" Paulina smirked slyly. "And I thought the two of you would be going together."

Sam blinked at her several times, cheeks warming with a blush. "N-No! Of course not! Why would you think that?" Honestly, she was surprised that Paulina wasn't making some jab about her and Danny being a couple, like everyone else.

Paulina rolled her emerald eyes. "Please! You two are way more obvious than you and Danny ever were. It's kind of cute. In a way. But sometimes it gets really annoying. Like, seriously! When are you two going to kiss already?"

Sam folded her arms as she turned her head away, cheeks still a rosy color. "Well, if he's not going figure it out on his own, I'm not going to tell him."

"Men can be pretty dense, huh?" Paulina sighed, like she knew exactly what Sam was going through with Tucker. "So put him down on the list of participants," she told Star, who had jotted down notes on everything they discussed. "You can add Dash and Kwan to it also." With that decided, they got down to planning out how to promote the whole prom date auction and other important details.

* * *

**Author's Note**: I haven't forgotten about this story! I swear I haven't! Also, I made a minor change in the last chapter, basically just adjusting the time of year because they should be at the end of the school year and not at the end of winter.

**Spongebob Swagpants**: I don't think there are a lot of Kwan x Danny stories out there? XD;;

**midnight**: Yay! Yeah, I'm still kind of pondering the title.

**Leo Dane**: Oh! A Danny/Kwan fan! =D Sorry it took so long to get another chapter out! D:

**klarissapereda**: It's definitely not a short story. XD;; I just got distracted with other stories and didn't get around to writing up another chapter until now. As for the title, well, dreams are sort of a major part of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 03**

"You know, you don't have to treat him like a complete jerk just because we're at school," Kwan said as he followed Dash out of the back exit of the school which opened right into the parking lot. Football season was long over, leaving the two jocks more time to hang out with nothing to do after school. Except for studying, but graduation wasn't too far off now that it was May.

"I'm not treating him any worse than I would Jordan or Peter," Dash argued, digging his hand into his pocket to grab the keys to his car. "Besides, he should know by now that I don't _actually_ hate him. I mean, maybe in freshman year I did, but," he shrugged, "the dork's grown on me since we started the whole tutoring group."

Kwan smirked a little. "You'd be totally screwed in English if Danny didn't help you with analyzing poems and books so you could actually understand enough of them to write the essays."

Dash rolled his dark blue eyes and gave his friend a shove. "My point is, I realized he wasn't a total loser."

"Nothing to do with the fact that he didn't laugh at the fact that you sew stuffed teddy bears and actually helps you with them sometimes?" Kwan dodged with a laugh before his friend could catch him in a headlock.

"You said you wouldn't mention that where people might hear!" Dash's face grew red with his anger, which only made Kwan bit his tongue to keep from laughing even more.

"Hey, it's not a bad thing!" Kwan raised his arms before him in defense. "Anyone that makes fun of you for it needs to have their heads checked. It's really great that you make them for the children in the hospital." He grinned proudly at his friend. "They always look so happy when you come to give them the stuffed teddy bears."

Dash raked a hand through his blond locks as a flush crept onto his cheeks. "Yeah, well, Fenton was the one that had the idea of making clothes for them. Even better when he suggested I try to make them relate to the child somehow. Like the one girl whose father is a fire fighter, or the little boy who wants to fly airplanes when he grows up."

"See?" Kwan nudged the other jock in the ribs with his elbow. "If you never gave him the chance, you might not have thought of that." He grinned as they walked through the parking lot toward Dash's car.

"You know," Dash said, and the tone his voice made Kwan's smile fall as his aqua green eyes slid toward his friend, "you don't have to keep talking him up like you're trying to get my approval or something."

When the sly smirk spread onto Dash's face, Kwan stumbled, his face turning several shades darker. Shit. Sometimes he forgot how observant his friend could be. "Where's Paulina?" he asked to cover that awkward moment as he turned his head to glance behind them. Paulina usually met them after school to get a ride home.

"Smooth, Kwan, smooth." Dash snickered, and Kwan could feel his cheeks growing even darker. "She caught me before third period to tell me she had something to do after class and we should just head home without her."

"Something to do?" Kwan lifted an eyebrow as he turned back to Dash, who shrugged. "What could she have to do?"

"She didn't tell me that." Dash snorted. "You know how secretive she can be sometimes. Especially when she's planning something. She hasn't mentioned anything about what she has in the works for prom yet."

Kwan's mouth pressed thin. "We're not going to like it, are we?"

"Knowing her? She probably has something up her sleeve," Dash said, his expression reading exactly how Kwan felt: annoyed but worried. Paulina enjoyed putting together events, throwing parties, which usually meant that she would drag Dash and Kwan into helping her with setting things up and barking orders when they did things wrong or not fast enough to have everything ready for the start of the party. So far, they were lucky not to get dragged into preparing things for prom, but they wouldn't be completely off the hook until prom was actually over. They both remained tense as they waited for her to eventually appear before them to beg for their help.

"I still haven't figured out why you're bothering to keep up the whole pretense of dating her," Kwan said, shoving his hands into his pocket as he frowned. "The two of you don't like each other that way, and there's no reason to really continue letting everyone believe that you are a couple. You haven't even bothered to ask her to prom yet."

"It makes things easier on both of us." Dash shrugged. "And I'll get around to asking her at some point. It's not like the person I want to ask is even around _to_ ask." He frowned, a distant look entering his gaze, and Kwan knew exactly where his friend's mind went. It was no big surprise to Kwan that Dash still had a major crush on Danny's sister. But his attempts to flirt with Jazz all ended in failure before Jazz headed off to college.

"Okay. I get that it's convenient for _you_," Kwan said, brow creasing and mouth thinning. "You don't have to bother being harassed by other girls if they think you're dating Paulina." Their fake relationship only started after freshman year when Dash stopped flirting with basically every woman in the school that looked his way. Kwan wasn't sure what changed in Dash to make him stop being such a flirt, but he wasn't about to complain about it. "But how is it good for Paulina?"

"If she hasn't told you, I'm certainly not going to be the one to spill the beans on it." Dash shoved his key into the lock and gave it a twist, unlocking the door to his shiny red Camaro for them.

"What? So I get left out of the secret?" Kwan frowned, nearly pouted, as he climbed into the car with Dash. "That makes me feel great." He shoved his book bag into the back seat as Dash did the same.

"Hey, it's not like you're so open about your secrets," Dash countered, giving his friend a pointed look. "You never said anything about this whole thing with Fenton. Paulina and I had to figure it out on our own." He turned the key in the ignition, and the engine rumbled to life.

Kwan sputtered for a moment. "Paulina knows too?" His mouth hung open as he gawked at his friend.

"Did you think we were both oblivious?" Dash chuckled. "Give her some credit. She's way more aware of things than people give her credit for. She's probably one of the few people that actually realize that Foley and Manson are totally crushing on each other."

"Not all that surprising," Kwan mumbled as he leaned back against the passenger's seat. "They're pretty obvious about it, though it seems like they're going to be even more annoying than Danny and Sam ever were about liking each other and not hooking up. But I still don't get the thing with Paulina." He lifted an eyebrow as he glanced toward Dash, who concentrated on the street ahead of them. "It doesn't seem like she's interested in anyone. So what's the deal? She's just using you to keep annoying guys away from her?"

Dash smirked and lifted one hand from the steering wheel to tap a finger upon his nose. "Bingo!" His hand returned to the steering wheel as he turned down another street. "It's more about the guys that can't take the hint that when she says no, that's not an invitation to keep pressing her about going on a date. Right now, she just cares about passing all of her classes to graduate and putting together everything for prom."

"I guess that makes sense," Kwan mumbled, leaning an arm against the door as he stared out at the passing scenery.

"So speaking of Fenton," Dash said slowly, and Kwan pointedly refused to turn his gaze back to his friend.

"Why do you have to keep bringing that up?" Kwan groaned, rubbing a hand over his forehead.

"Because you refuse to talk about it."

Kwan frowned as he stared out the car window. "It's not like this is some long suffering crush," he mumbled, and he couldn't even pinpoint when the feelings started surfacing inside him. It was only recently when they were having one of their usual tutoring sessions at Dash's house that Kwan realized his gaze kept straying toward Danny and watching the way his mouth would move whenever he was reading over something in his textbook. "I don't even know what it is. It could just be that I'm realizing I'm-" He froze and shot his gaze toward his friend.

"Dude, you're freaking out about being gay _now_?" Dash laughed, shaking his head. "You're my brother, man. I'm not going to turn away and abandon you just because you realize you like people of the same sex. Just, you know, as long as you don't start hitting on me." He tore his gaze away from the street and frowned severely at his friend.

"Nah, you're not my type, man." Kwan wore a cheeky grin, but it was a great relief to him that Dash was able to joke about it. If nothing else, that told him that Dash really didn't have any problems with his friend being gay. "Anyway, I know how much you _love_ Jazz. I wouldn't try anything with you." He relaxed, sinking down in his seat as he lifted one foot to rest on the dashboard. "But yeah, I don't know if what I feel is real or just me realizing that I'm attracted to guys. And I don't want to, you know, hit on Danny. He's probably not gay, and we have a good thing going with this whole tutoring thing. Why would I mess that up when we're so close to graduating?"

"Well-" Dash frowned as he tapped a finger on the steering wheel. "Talking to him, at least, wouldn't hurt. I mean, you can never really tell. He liked Manson and never dated her. He liked Valerie, but they only went out for a short time. He hasn't been with or shown interest in anyone else since then. It's possible he hasn't even consciously realized that he might be attracted to men. And if nothing else, talking to him would at least get it out in the open and you'd have your answer, whether it's good or bad." His dark blue eyes darted toward Kwan. "Maybe he'll say yes if you ask him out and things can develop from there. If he says no, sure, there'll be some awkwardness, but Fenton doesn't seem the type that would turn his nose up at you and make you feel like shit just because you happen to be gay."

"Maybe," Kwan mumbled. He knew Danny was a nice guy, but that didn't stop him from being scared of actually confronting the other man to confess his feelings. Kwan didn't want to make Danny feel awkward around him if he said anything. Thankfully, Dash let the topic drop as they continued driving in silence.

The passing scenery became a blur to him as his eyes slipped shut. They were seniors with graduation just around the corner, but sometimes it felt like their teachers used that as an excuse to pile as much homework onto them as possible before they were finally free of high school. It made him glad football season was over with, because the amount of homework they had plus having football practices and games would be a nightmare in his mind. Plenty of times during football season, Kwan actually thought he wouldn't be able to keep up with everything, and that worry crept into his dreams at night, filling them with terrifying thoughts of failure.

A face flashed in his mind, hidden by a mask of fine white porcelain with gold accents swirling about the eye holes and along the edges. In the darkness of the eye holes, he caught a glow of bright gold and blood red. Then the face vanished like a wisp of smoke against an endless darkness. Kwan woke with a shout, fear curling inside him like a sickness in his stomach that left him with the sensation of bile rising in his throat, burning it until tears sprung to his eyes. It was only a dream, he realized when he found he was still in Dash's Camaro, but that brief image stayed burned in his mind with a fear that made him tremble.

"Shit!" Dash shouted, the car squealing as he slammed on the breaks. They were on a quiet street, thankfully, with no other cars to ram him from behind after his sudden stop. "What the hell was that?" He snapped his gaze around, dark blue eyes wide as he stared at his friend.

Kwan's hand gripped the door handle so tightly that his knuckles ached. His heart still pounded too quickly in his chest. "I - I don't know," he whispered, barely able to speak louder than that as wide aqua green eyes stared frightfully before him. "I - I guess I nodded off there for a bit." He blinked, forced his eyes to close again. Slowly, he managed to calm his heart and his breathing. He pulled his hand free from the door handle, his fingers aching from holding onto it. "A nightmare, I guess."

"Dude, you only had your eyes closed for, like, a minute."

Kwan turned his head and met Dash's gaze. The only time Dash had that scared expression on his face was when a ghost showed up in the area, though that usually went away the moment Phantom showed up to fight the ghost. Kwan swallowed, scared to close his eyes again in case he saw that face again. What was it? Why did he see it? He didn't have any answers, and that probably was the most terrifying part of that random episode. The unknown was something people always feared.

* * *

**Ignacia Kitty Dolohov-Potter**: With Kwan's letterman jacket? 8D *shot*

**midnight**: Danny might still be a little dense. XD;; At least where it comes to other people liking him. I like the idea of Paulina being smart, and not totally as stuck up as some people might thing. XD;; But that might be my own little head canon for her.

**Snowleopard0**: Why thank you! *blushes a lot* I can tell you my writing wasn't always so good. XD;; If you saw some of my earlier writing, you'd probably be cringing at how bad it is.

**Fiddlehoffer**: Thanks~ And ah~ It hasn't died yet! I promise!

**Author's Note**: Whoops! Sorry about this taking a backseat again to another story. But now that that was is done, I should be able to focus on this one a lot more. =) Sorry for all the delays in getting out new chapters. D:


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 04**

"Do I really need to learn this?" Danny grumbled as he rubbed out another wrong answer for his math homework. Even with Dash and Kwan to help him, math still made his head spin when he tried to do the assignments by himself.

"How come you chose to have Kwan and Dash tutor you?" Tucker questioned, and Danny could hear a hint of offense in his friend's voice. "I mean, of all the people you could ask for help, why them? I could help you!"

Danny shrugged then remembered his friend wouldn't be able to see that action while they talked on the phone. "I don't know. It just sort of happened. And anyway, you're not exactly a whiz in math."

Tucker didn't respond right away. "You make an excellent point with that," he agreed dryly. He retained some of the information forced into his brain from the Cramtastic Mark 5, but as time went by, the knowledge slowly faded from his mind. "But why would you go to them for help instead of me and Sam?"

Danny looked over the problem in his textbook again, trying to figure out what he was doing wrong without much luck. "It came up randomly," he mumbled as he wrote out the problem again and tried to work through the formula. "Dash and I were talking-" He stopped, frowning dully when Tucker burst out laughing. "Pray tell. What exactly is so funny?"

"You and Dash? Talking? Like having an actual conversation? That doesn't involve fists? I can't even imagine that?" Tucker kept snickering while Danny lifted his head and gazed out over Amity Park with a sense of annoyance growing inside him. "How did that go? Did you sit down and have a nice little tea party with the scary jock?"

"No," Danny replied flatly. "Dash doesn't let people play with his tea set." He couldn't stop the smirk the stretched over his face as Tucker burst into another round of loud laughter. "Okay. But seriously, it was after one of our runs since Dash agreed to continue being my fitness buddy. He was complaining about how things weren't looking good for him staying on the football team if he didn't pick up some of his grades, like in English, and I mentioned I'd probably get stuck repeating a year if I couldn't pass math. Then it was just kind of like: why don't we help each other out? Kwan had a few weak areas too, so we dragged him into to help round out where we were having trouble and helping him in return. And that's pretty much how it happened."

"Wow," Tucker mumbled, sounding stunned. "I can't believe Dash actually cares about his grades. Wait. No. I can't believe Dash isn't beating nerds into doing his homework for him!"

"Kind of surprising, isn't it?" Danny chuckled as he wrote down the answer he got after solving the math problem. He still didn't think he had it right, and that was driving him crazy. "I was almost in shock when I realized he'd actually been doing all his homework himself. Then again, with all those Ds he shouted about getting and wanting to take out of my hide, I guess I should have realized that from the start."

"So no crazy stories to tell about Dash?" Tucker questioned, suddenly becoming very interested in the whole tutoring arrangement Danny had with the two jocks. "Is the tea set thing true?"

Danny rolled his eyes with a small smile. "Yeah, like Dash is going to let me in on anything embarrassing in his life." He chuckled, but that wasn't entirely true. During a fight with Technus, he came across the stuffed teddy bears within Dash's closet, but it wasn't until late sophomore year that he learned the reason that Dash had all over those stuffed teddy bears. He also knew that if he revealed that information to anyone, even his friends, that Dash would making what remained of their high school career even more miserable than freshman year.

"Man! Think of the dirt you could get on him," Tucker complained. "We'd finally have the upper hand on him."

"Yeah," Danny snorted, "when we're almost to the end of the year? Seems kind of worthless to think about that now."

"Yeah, I guess," Tuckered agreed in disappointment. "So what do you think that project Sam mentioned is about?"

Danny blinked, pausing as he started working on the next math problem. Until Tucker brought it up, the whole project Sam mentioned before classes started slipped Danny's mind as he focused on his school work. His mouth thinned as he wracked his brain, trying to think of what Sam could have in mind. Knowing her, it could be just about anything, since Sam was always coming up with some new cause to support. Past causes involved convincing the school to add more vegetarian options to the cafeteria menu and an alternative to dissecting frogs. Danny actually found that he was unable to dissect a real frog when the time came because he kept envisioning an encounter with the frog's ghost. A frog ghost may not be terrifying, but it left him feeling guilty that it had to sacrifice its life just from them to dissect it. In that case, he could actually side with Sam when it came to the mistreatment of animals.

"I guess we'll find out eventually," Danny replied with a sigh. "She's bound to tell us about this project eventually."

"Yeah, but she usually doesn't bother to keep it secret." Tucker tapped something on his end of the phone. Danny could hear the noise coming through in a random four beat tap. "If she's keeping it secret, I bet it's going to be something we _really_ won't like."

"There's not much helping it though. You know how Sam can be. When she's on a mission, it's hard to stop her." Danny heard Tucker groan, knowing exactly what his friend was feeling. "So," a smirk stretching over his face, "when are you going to finally ask Sam to prom?" Danny chuckled as he heard his friend sputtering on the other end of the phone.

"I'll... get around to it," Tucker mumbled, and Danny knew the other man was blushing like mad.

"You better not put it off," Danny warned. "Sam could end up saying yes to someone else before you get the chance to ask. Time's growing short, man."

"Yeah, well," Tucker grumbled, trying to think of a good comeback. "Well, who are you going to ask to prom?"

Danny blinked, sitting up a bit straighter as he lifted his gaze away from his homework. He hadn't even really stopped to think about going to prom himself. All his attention was focused on homework and any ghosts that decided to pop, which thankfully wasn't too many. Perhaps he owed Vlad, as much as he hated to admit it, some thanks for that. Now that he wasn't making plots every week, Vlad no longer sent ghosts into Amity Park for various missions. He still heard from Vlad on occasion, but the older half ghost spent a great deal of time in seclusion. He couldn't blame Vlad, but he did feel sorry for him.

"I probably won't go," Danny admitted then tried to return his focus to his homework.

"What?" Tucker shouted, making Danny wince. "You have to go!"

"I don't really have anyone to go with. And besides," Danny shuddered as a chill run down his spine, and he sighed, "it would be hard to enjoy the night with anyone if ghosts decided to show up, like right now. I'll have to call you back later."

"You sure you don't want help?"

"I can handle it. Don't sweat it. Anyway, you said you had a bunch of homework to finish."

"Thanks for reminding me." Tucker groaned. "Well, don't take on too much. Talk to you later, man."

"Bye." Danny clicked off the phone and stuffed it into his book bag. He glanced over the books surrounding him and sighed. The math assignment was the only one he was really worried about since it would take him the longest to finish. He gathered up his books and crammed them into his book bag. After he tucked his book bag away where no one would find it, he transformed into his ghost form. He went through more than enough fights in the past to learn that it was a bad idea to take his homework into battle with him. If getting an F for not having his homework completed wasn't bad enough, he also had to pay for damage to school property when his textbooks got torn to shreds or set on fire.

Running to the edge of the roof, Danny leaped off and flew through the area, hoping that this fight wouldn't take long. Bright green eyes scanned around for whomever set off his ghost sense. He almost groaned when he spotted Johnny 13 racing along the empty streets on his motorcycle. Pushing himself to go faster, Danny descended until he flew right alongside the blond ghost. His green haired girlfriend was absent, but his ever present bad luck Shadow lurked beneath him.

"Do we have to go through this again, Johnny?" Danny questioned tiredly.

Green eyes darted toward him, and Johnny's mouth thinned. "You muck up my ride again, and I'll have Shadow make your life nothing but miserable." He turned sharply down another street with a squeal of his wheels over the pavement.

Grinding his teeth, Danny hurried to catch up with him. "Fine. I won't touch your ride. But if you're here to stir up trouble, I might have to reconsider that promise."

Johnny twisted his motorcycle around as he screeched to a halt. Danny drew himself to a stop several feet from Johnny as he fell into a defensive stance with his arms raised, his fists glowing green. Whatever Johnny was up to, Danny planned to make short work of it and toss him back into the Ghost Zone so that he could get back to his homework quickly. The engine continued rumbling as Johnny stared at Danny. Shadow remained silently quivering over the pavement, waiting his master's commands before attacking.

"Look." Johnny folded his arms as he leaned on his motorcycle. "It's our anniversary, and if I don't get something special for Kitty, she's going to chew my head off. Surely you can understand that. I bet that Goth chick gets in a real mood if you forget to get her something for your anniversary."

Danny stared dully at the ghost as his annoyance rose to new heights. "Sam and I _aren't_ a couple." He folded his arms as he floated a few inches off the ground. Johnny only rolled his eyes at the comment, giving Danny the impression that he didn't believe the half ghost's claim. "And why are you searching the real world for something to get Kitty? Can't find anything in the Ghost Zone?"

"You've seen the Ghost Zone." Johnny spread out one hand as he frowned. "Kitty wants something romantic from the real world. So I came here to look for something that she'd like." His mouth thinned with annoyance flashing in his eyes. "So far, nothing really pops out to me."

"You've been together for - What is it now? Thirty years?"

"Give or take." Johnny shrugged.

"So," Danny said, trying to think of what Kitty might like for her anniversary present, "why don't you make things official?" He rolled his eyes when Johnny's brow creased and confusion clouded his eyes. "I mean, why don't you propose to her? Didn't Skulker and Ember finally tie the knot last year? You two could do the same."

Johnny opened his mouth then closed it with a thoughtful expression. "Kitty has been making a lot of comments about Ember's wedding lately."

Danny rolled his eyes and tried not to laugh at the blond ghost. "Because she's trying to hint that she wants you to ask her. She's not going to come out and say it."

"I guess you're pretty smart. For a guy that can't land a girl." Johnny wore a smirk that made Danny frown and resist the urge to fire an energy ball at him to wipe that smug look off his face. "Why don't you finally ask your Goth friend out?"

"Because I don't like her like that," Danny explained with a tired sigh. Maybe back in freshman year he could understand everyone jumping to that conclusion, but now he found it annoying that they never seemed to realize that he and Sam didn't like each other in the romantic sense. "So find her a ring," he said, turning the conversation back to Johnny's problem. "I know there are some ghosts in the Ghost Zone that can make a ring for you. Is it really necessary to get one from the real world?" He lifted an eyebrow as he frowned. "I'm not going to just stand by and allow you to steal one."

"Fine," Johnny grumbled, hunching over the front of his motorcycle. "I promise I won't steal one."

"Good." Danny sighed with relief. "Now I can get back to doing my homework. What fun."

Johnny laughed. "That's one good thing about being a ghost. No more stupid homework to do." He saluted Danny before turning his motorcycle around and speeding off, hopefully, back to the Ghost Zone.

Danny groaned, his shoulders sagging. As much as he liked it when a ghost encountered ended without a fight, he felt exhausted knowing that he still had homework to do. He didn't mind all of the work, as he did enjoy the extra English assignments that Lancer gave him, but the math homework always made him feel like throwing his arms up in defeat. He would rather spend the whole night fighting ghosts than working on math.

"I guess I only have one choice if I hope to finish everything for tomorrow." Danny flew back to the rooftop that he usually sat on when he kept a watch on the town while doing his homework. He grabbed his book bag from its hiding spot. Then he made his way toward what was now a very familiar house to him after three years of tutoring sessions. He found a safe spot, well out of sight, to transform back into a human. After a quick glance around the street, Danny stepped out from the shadows. Then shouldering his book bag, he headed up to the front door. He raised a hand and rang the doorbell. Minutes ticked by, and Danny shifted awkwardly on the doorstep, wondering if perhaps he shouldn't have come over this late at night.

The door opened, snapping Danny's attention back to it, and he blinked several times as he stared at the man with his damp jeans clinging around his legs. A towel was draped about his bare, board shoulders as drops of water slipped down over smooth flesh, following the lines of hard muscles. His raven hair, still kept cut short, stuck up at odd angles from a rushed job of trying to towel dry it. Aqua green eyes blinked back at him in surprise.

"D-Danny," Kwan greeted as he reached up to rub the back of his neck, glancing away. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

"I was having some trouble with that math assignment," Danny explained as he tugged at one ear. "I forgot how late it is. I should probably just, uh, you know, go." He started to turn to leave, but Kwan caught his arm.

"Uh, no, it's okay. I mean, my parents won't mind if you're over here to study." Kwan shrugged, but his gaze wouldn't meet Danny's eyes. "I was having some trouble with that French assignment, so this works out pretty well."

Once Danny stepped into the house, Kwan closed the door. His parents sat in the front room, his father reading over the newspaper while his mother worked on knitting. Danny gave them a polite greeting, which earned small smiles and short nods in return, before he followed Kwan upstairs to his bedroom where they usually held their tutoring sessions when they had them at his house. Kwan's bedroom was surprisingly neat, much cleaner than either Dash or Danny's rooms. Danny took a seat at the foot of the bed while Kwan searched through his drawers for a clean shirt that he tugged on over his head.

"I got a few of them done," Danny said as he pulled out his math textbook and notes. "But I'm pretty sure I didn't get the answers right." He frowned down at his sloppy work then glanced to the jock. "What is it?"

Kwan wore a funny look on his face, like he had something on his mind. "I thought maybe-" His mouth thinned then he shook his head. "Never mind. Let me see what you've got." He held out his hand.

Danny frowned as he watched Kwan reviewing his work on the math problems. What was he about to say, he wondered? He sighed, pushing that question to the back of his mind as they both got down to work on finishing their homework.

* * *

**Ignacia Kitty Dolohov-Potter**: At some point! *shakes determined fist* At some point, Danny shall wear Kwan's letterman jacket!

**midnight**: Hm~ I wonder~ 8) I could play the mean card, but Dash and Kwan are so close that Dash rejecting him based on his sexuality would just be too sad. orz

**Snowleopard0**: Thanks~ 8D Haha, yeah~ I'm glad my writing has improved since then. 8D;;

**jelloshots99**: Ah~ Don't worry about not reviewing everything! D: Homework is important! (Despite what Johnny might say.) Thanks for reading~ 8D Haha, yeah, Kwan and Danny don't seem to have very many fics. I just love the idea of them being friends~ 8D Dash might act super tough, but he's a sweetheart deep down. XD You *strokes chin* might be able to convince him to make some.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 05**

Dash frowned, an eye twitching with each beat of the pink pen tapping upon the notebook. He sent a glance toward the woman sitting next to him in his car, but Paulina was completely oblivious that her actions were growing annoying to him. Since he picked her up from her house, Paulina sat in the passenger's seat with a notebook in her lap, pen beating against the blank page as she stared out the window while he drove to their next stop.

"Seriously, Paulina," Dash finally snapped out in frustration. "Will you stop the tapping?"

Turning her head to face him, Paulina blinked then dropped her emerald green eyes to her hand. "Oh!" She flushed lightly as she stilled her hand. "Sorry." She sighed tiredly as she reached up to brush a lock of her sleek ebony hair behind an ear. "I just have some stuff on my mind."

"Care to share?" Dash lifted his eyebrow in curiosity. "Or will I regret asking that?" He pressed his mouth together, not eager to spend his afternoon helping to put stuff together for prom.

"Well," Paulina wore a little smirk that Dash knew he definitely didn't like, "I'm helping Sam out with this little project."

"You and Manson?" Dash couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out of him in a loud burst of noise.

"Really?" Paulina folded her arms with a flat glare. "You and Danny?"

Dash snickered one last time before coughing and turning serious. "Sorry. You were saying something about a project? And again, am I going to regretting asking about it?"

"Hm," Paulina tilted her head thoughtfully, "you probably won't be happy about this. The thing is Sam wants to set up a date auction. You know, guys getting auctioned off to girls, and we're going to tie it into prom, so any girls that want a date can bid on the guys and secure a date."

"Sounds like a crazy idea," Dash mumbled, though he guessed he shouldn't be surprised that Manson would come up with another crazy idea, especially after that whole thing with changing the lunch menu to be nothing but grass and mud. Then his eyes widened, and he snapped his head toward Paulina. "You didn't!"

Paulina glanced away, trying to look innocent but completely failing. "I may have agreed to include you and Kwan into the auction."

"Paulina!" Dash shouted, and the woman winced, raising her notebook to protect her face. He sighed as he lifted a hand to rub at his face. "You didn't think to ask first?"

Paulina lowered the notebook to tentatively glance over the top of it at the jock. "It's for a good cause. Sam wants to use the money from the auction for better habitats at the zoo. I did some research about it after Principal Ishiyama asked me to help Sam with the auction. Some of them have pretty bad living conditions, and I think it's a good idea to work toward making some money to help the zoo improve them. Of course, some of the money should go to the school, since the school is involved in this little fund raising event. Having you there, as Mr. King of the School, is bound to get us some pretty good bids." She smiled at him, batting her eyes prettily to charm him into agreeing to participate.

Dash groaned internally. Even if he refused now, Paulina would continue pestering him about it, using guilt about it being for a good cause, to encourage him to agree. "Fine." Dash sighed out, parking his car outside Kwan's house. "But don't think I'm happy about this. I don't exactly like that you volunteered me up like a piece of meat."

"Think of it this way," Paulina said as they climbed out of the car, "Jazz will probably admire your participation in a fund raising event to help the poor animals at the zoo. It makes a good impression to see a guy cares about such things." She nodded firmly, smiling in the knowledge that mentioning Jazz would quickly get Dash to agree to anything.

Dash cursed that Paulina knew about his crush on Fenton's sister. It wasn't exactly some big secret, since he was painfully obvious about his crush when he hit on Jazz during their tutoring sessions, but it made it easy for Paulina to twist him around her little finger when she wanted him to do something.

When they reached the front door, Dash unlocked it and let themselves into his friend's house. Ever since they were fourteen, Dash and Kwan had keys to each other's house. Since they were always visiting each other's houses, it just made sense to them to give each other their house keys so they could just come in without having to knock or ring the doorbell.

"Hey, Mrs. L!" Dash greeted, waving the Kwan's mother as he headed for the stairs.

"Oh, is that a new blouse?" Paulina asked, following Mrs. Long into the kitchen where they would likely start on preparing breakfast together.

Reaching the second floor, Dash walked down the hall toward Kwan's bedroom. Rolling his eyes, he bet his friend was still asleep, failing to wake up as usual when his alarm rang. With a sneaky smirk, he quietly nudged the door open, prepared to scare his friend awake. He froze, his mouth opened to shout, when he took in the sight of the room. Books sat on the floor, slightly unusual given how neat Kwan usually kept his room. But what really made Dash stop in his tracks was his best friend leaned up against the foot of the bed and beside him, Fenton leaned against Kwan's shoulder. Both men remained fast asleep, probably from a late night studying.

An idea popped into his head, and Dash dug his hand into his pocket to pull out his phone. With quiet steps, he walked over to where they slept and crouched down in front of them. Then he held up his phone with the camera switched on and snapped a quick picture of the pair. He grinned at the picture before shoving his phone back into his pocket.

"Hey," Dash said, grabbing Kwan's foot and giving his friend a shake. He rolled his eyes again when the attempt failed. Sometimes, Kwan was like the dead when he slept. Lifting up one of his friend's feet, Dash ran a finger lightly over the sole of Kwan's foot. The leg jerked out of his hand as Kwan jolted awake by the tickling touch.

"Damn it, Dash!" Kwan grumbled, rubbing at his eyes with one hand. "Do you have to wake me up like that?"

Dash shrugged, trying but failing to stop the smirk spreading over his face. "It's what works." He stood up as his gaze slid toward Fenton. "So what's the story here?" He nodded his head toward the still sleeping man.

Kwan pulled his hand away from his eye and turned his gaze to the side, nearly jumping with surprise to find Fenton there. "Oh man!" He raked a hand through his hair. "I guess we passed out last night while doing our homework." He reached over and gave Fenton a shake, who woke with a start, sitting up straight as his eyes snapped open.

"Oh, fudge!" After a glance between the two jocks, Fenton leaned forward, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. "My parents are going to kill me for breaking curfew." He scrambled for his bag, searching around inside it until he pulled out his phone. After he climbed to his feet, he paused and glanced toward them with an embarrassed flush creeping onto his pale cheeks. "Uh, would it be okay if I borrowed a shirt?" His gaze was cast to the side as he spoke, unable to look at them. "I won't have time to head back home to change if I want to get to school on time."

"Yeah, sure." Kwan got up and headed over to his closet. After rummaging around inside, he yanked out a clean white shirt and tossed it to Fenton.

"Thanks." Fenton caught the shirt and headed out of the bedroom.

"So Fenton slept over," Dash said once the other man was out of the room. He smirked at the flush on his friend's face as Kwan grabbed some clean clothes from his closet. "Ah, you two really are cute together." He brought out his phone again and pulled up the picture he snapped to show his friend.

"Dash!" Kwan grabbed for the phone. "You better delete that!"

"No way!" Dash yanked his phone out of the other jock's reach, laughing at Kwan's reaction. "This is a total keeper."

"Dash!" Kwan growled, his face red either from embarrassment or anger or both. "What if someone sees that?"

"Oh, come on! It's not like I'm going to spam e-mail it to everyone at school." Dash rolled his eyes as Kwan pulled on a navy blue shirt. "Do you think I'm that much of a jerk? Or that much of an idiot?"

"No," Kwan replied as he gathered up his things to cram them into his book bag. "But I do know some people at school that would love to use a photo like that as an opportunity to embarrass me if they got their hands on your phone."

Dash frowned, his amusement evaporating in an instant. He knew exactly whom Kwan meant by that. As much as some people believed that the A list was some close knit group of bullies, there was a lot of conflict between the different clicks among the popular. There were girls that wanted to knock Paulina off her pedestal of Queen of the School, and there were other jocks that thought Dash had gone soft and thought they needed to reinstate the whole bullying the losers of the school requirement for being on the A list. He frowned as he remembered one of the nerds, Mikey or maybe Lester, sporting dark bruises just last week. Lancer was furious when he saw the injuries, but the scrawny nerd wouldn't admit who beat him up.

"They're not going to get a hold of my phone, so don't freak out about it." Dash patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Well," Fenton said with a sigh as he returned to Kwan's bedroom dressed in the shirt that Kwan gave him, "I'm at least not grounded. Since I was over here for studying, my mom decided to let me off with a warning not to stay out without calling first again."

"That's great," Kwan said, grinning as he not so subtly watched Fenton bend over to gather up his things into his book bag. Dash bit his tongue in an attempt not to laugh at them. Sometimes, he couldn't believe that Fenton was oblivious to the fact that Kwan liked him.

"Thanks for the help last night," Fenton said, shouldering his bag as he stood up again. "I probably never would have gotten it all done without your help."

"Oh, no worries, man. You helped me figure out that thing I was struggling with in French."

"All right, all right." Dash shoved the two of them toward the door. "Thanks all around, but we should really head to breakfast now." If that was Kwan's idea of flirting, Dash doubted the two of them would ever get together.

"I should probably just go now," Fenton said as they all headed down the stairs, "if I want to make it to school in time. I can just grab something from the student store before class."

"Nonsense!" Kwan grabbed hold of Fenton's shoulders and directed him toward the kitchen where they could smell the scrambled eggs that Kwan's mother and Paulina cooked up for them. "We can drive you to school." He shot a glare to Dash, as if daring his friend to argue, but Dash merely rolled his eyes in response.

"Danny!" Paulina blinked in surprise when the three of them entered the kitchen. Then a hint of a grin found its way onto her face as her emerald eyes glanced toward Kwan. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, hi," Fenton replied awkwardly with a small wave of his hand. "Just kind of fell asleep while we were studying."

Paulina merely nodded with that knowing look in her eyes, and Dash didn't even need to glance Kwan's way to know the other jock was struggling to fight off a blush. They all sat down at the kitchen table and quickly dug into the eggs and toast upon their plates. When they were finished, they thanked Mrs. Long before filing out the front door and down the walkway to Dash's Camaro. Paulina immediately called shot gun, leaving Kwan and Fenton to sit in the back. Dash shared a grin with Paulina while in the backseat, Kwan pointedly ignored them all, staring out the window. Fenton sat there awkwardly beside the jock as his blue eyes drifted around, never settling on anything.

Dash sometimes felt the urge to bluntly announce Kwan's feelings toward Fenton, but as tempting as it was, he held back, knowing Kwan would be angry with him for saying anything. But it drove him crazy sometimes to see Kwan and Fenton next to each other but never talking about their feelings. He didn't know whether or not Fenton liked Kwan back, but he thought _maybe_ there was something there, even if Fenton hadn't realized it yet himself. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part, wanting a happy ending for his friend by thinking that Fenton returned Kwan's feelings.

"Thanks for the ride," Fenton said once they arrived at school and Dash parked his car. He hopped out quickly and headed straight for the back entrance.

"You know, I think by now, you shouldn't make him feel like he has to hide the fact that you all hang out to study," Paulina said, shooting a frown toward Dash over the roof of the car.

"Ugh, you and Kwan," Dash muttered as he shut the driver's side door. But he guessed, if for no other reason, he could be a little nicer to Fenton for Kwan's sake. The three friends walked into school together, and Fenton was already long gone, probably joining his friends to hang out before classes started.

"Oh! There's Star!" Paulina led their little group over to where the blonde woman stood, gathering books out of her locker. Dash frowned at the listless expression on Star's face, blank with bags under her eyes like she didn't sleep well last night.

"Oh, hey, Paulina," Star said as she closed her locker. Her voice lacked any real emotion, sounding bored.

Paulina blinked several times at her friend, her brow creasing. "What's wrong?"

Star shrugged. "I don't know. I woke up this morning, and I just didn't even really feel like getting out of bed."

"I hope you're not coming down with something." Paulina frowned with concern for her friend.

"It's probably nothing serious." Then it was like life suddenly returned to Star's eyes. "Oh! We should find Sam and talk more about the auction and prom and stuff."

"I had some ideas that I wanted to discuss, though I'm not entirely sure about some of them," Paulina said as she and Star started walking off down the hall.

"Did that strike you as strange?" Dash questioned with a frown as his gaze followed the two women. Kwan merely nodded with his brow creased and a thoughtful expression in his aqua green eyes.

* * *

**Ignacia Kitty Dolohov-Potter**: Well, got him into Kwan's shirt. *strokes chin* But the letterman jacket will happen! I don't when or how, but it'll get in here somewhere!

**midnight**: Aw~ Wouldn't that have been so disappointing? D: Poor Kwan baby~

**Just Will**: I'm glad it's looking good so far! 8D Oh? What was the first one you saw? Wait! You mean prom isn't at the end of the year?! *totally thought it was* Kwan saw Danny coming up to the door from his window and rushed to beat his parents to the door? XD;;


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 06**

"Man, when did Danny get all responsible and stuff?" Tucker asked as they walked down the hall toward their lockers.

Sam rolled her eyes in response to the question. "We've all grown up," she pointed out then snatched the cell phone out of her friend's hands. Tucker gave a whine as he reached for it, but Sam held it out of reach, placing a hand on Tucker's chest to hold him back. "But maybe you've been to engrossed in all the new tech coming out each year to really pay attention to the non-digital world."

"I pay attention," Tucker mumbled, giving up on his attempt to grab his phone back.

There was an awkward pause as Sam kept her hand on his chest and they stared into each other's eyes. Then Sam jerked her hand back as if burned and continued walking down the hall. "Sure you do," she said with a forced chuckle. "That's why you always need my help with your homework because you forgot what the assignments were."

"I pay attention to other things," Tucker muttered, shoving his hands into his pants pockets.

Violet eyes slid toward him, and Sam glanced him over, noting the absence of the trench coat that he started wearing not too long ago. "Sure, sure," she said, nodding her head. "So what was it that I wanted for my birthday, and what was it that _you_ got me?"

"Uh," Tucker trailed off, turning his gaze away as he rubbed at the back of his neck in thought. "But I thought you liked the Devil Heads."

"Ugh!" Sam groaned. "Not since sophomore year. They totally sold out and started becoming more mainstream pop then underground Gothic rock that they used to be. Since then, I haven't really cared for their music."

"Why didn't you just say something then?" Tucker complained, frowning as they reached their lockers where Danny was already sitting on the floor with a book in one hand as he scribbled in a notebook on his lap.

"I thought it would be _obvious_ for someone who _pays attention_," Sam explained, twisting the combination lock on her locker. "You know, since you claim to pay attention to more than just your tech toys."

"They're not toys!" Tucker argued as he grabbed his textbooks from his lockers and shoved in the ones he wouldn't need until later. "Okay. Some of them are, and some of them have games, but they're not _just_ toys."

"What started the argument today?" Danny asked as he tilted his head back to glance up at them.

"It's not an argument," Sam and Tucker said together, and after sharing a quick glance, they snapped their heads away.

"We were just discussing when you got all responsible," Tucker explained, looking anywhere other than at Sam, who felt like sighing in frustration.

Danny blinked at his friend a few times before shaking his head. "I've been too focused on homework and ghosts to even think about the idea that I've become 'responsible.'"

"Are you kidding, Danny?" Tucker gawked, his mouth hanging open in shock. "I mean, granted ghost attacks didn't exactly help anything, but you were kind of a slacker anyway in freshman year."

"Thanks," Danny muttered with a flat stare as his mouth thinned.

"But you really buckled down the next year," Sam said, closing her locker. "I'm really impressed with how dedicated you've been to your studies. I bet your parents are happy about the improvement to your grades." Her brow creased when she stared down at Danny. "Is that a new shirt?"

Danny dropped his gaze to the plain white shirt he wore. "Uh, yeah."

"Dude, it looks like you grabbed one five sizes too big." Tucker chuckled at the way the shirt hung loosely on Danny's body. "I thought you decided to _not_ wear baggy clothes anymore." He lifted an eyebrow in curiosity.

Danny shuffled around his things as a soft rosy color grew upon his cheeks. "I guess I wasn't paying attention when I grabbed it," he mumbled, stuffing his books into his bag.

"You're not keeping things from us, are you?" Sam folded her arms, lifting an eyebrow in a look that said she wasn't buying his lies. Danny had no reason to blush, even a little, for accidentally buying a shirt that was a size or two too big for him. She eyed him curiously, wondering why asking about his shirt would result in Danny blushing. What did he have to be embarrassed about with a plain shirt that was only slightly too big on him?

"What would I be keeping from you?" Danny shrugged as he stood, tugging the strap of his book bag onto one shoulder.

"Oh, I don't know," Tucker said, his green eyes rolling before they landed back on Danny. "You did keep the whole thing about tutoring with Dash and Kwan a secret."

"What?" Sam shouted as her eyes widened.

"Obviously, I couldn't say anything about that before." Danny sighed in exasperation. "If I mentioned it before, Dash probably would have pounded me into the ground. Or at least in the beginning." His expression turned thoughtful as he tilted his head. "I'm not so sure now. He still acts like a jerk, but it seems more for show than anything else."

Sam snorted. "Dash being nice? Yeah right." She laughed but cut it short as she remembered yesterday. She used to think she had a perfect image of whom Paulina was: a shallow pretty girl who thought of nothing but herself and wasting her parents money on silly things like lots of expensive clothes and makeup. But after class yesterday and their meeting about the auction, Sam realized just how narrow minded her opinion of the popular woman was. Paulina was actually smart, observant, and thought about others beyond herself and her circle of friends. If her opinions about Paulina were wrong, Sam wondered how far off the mark she was about Dash.

Kwan, on the other hand - She was fairly certain her thoughts on him weren't too far from the truth. He always came off as a generally nice guy, when other A list members weren't ordering him around to bully the less popular. That had decreased since sophomore year, however, and he never came around to harass Danny. In fact, as she recalled, Kwan ignored anyone that told him to beat up on Danny once they entered their sophomore year. Sam placed a hand to her chin with a thoughtful creasing of her brow. If that was around the time Danny started tutoring with the two jocks, Kwan probably wouldn't want to hurt the person helping him keep up his grades.

Her attention snapped back to her surroundings when a loud bang reached her ears. Danny's eyes were wide as saucers, and there was a slight dent in the lockers just inches from his face. With a terrified look on his face, Danny seemed like he stopped breathing the moment the ball crashed into the lockers. Luckily, his ghost powers didn't act up like they might have back when he first got them.

"What the hell?" Tucker shouted.

"Ha ha! I think he wet himself!"

Sam ground her teeth as she snapped her gaze down the hall to where three jocks stood. "You could have hit him!" she shouted, fists curling in rage. She might not have many reasons to like Dash, but at least when he was roughing Danny up, he never nearly struck Danny with a baseball that could have potentially caused brain damage from how hard the ball was thrown.

"It's a shame it didn't," Calvin said, sneering back at her. His goons chuckled and slapped hands in a high five behind him.

"Sam, don't," Danny said, catching her arm before she could stomp toward the laughing jocks. "It's not worth it. Especially when we're this close to graduation. Let's just head to class."

"I can't wait to get out of here," Tucker muttered as he followed alongside Danny down the hall. "There's not a lot of bullying in college, right?" He turned a hopeful look onto his friends.

"You're going to one of those tech places, right? I think you'll be pretty safe from jock bullying there," Danny said, patting Tucker on the shoulder. He gasped as his shirt pulled tight, collar digging into his throat, as he was yanked backward. Sam spun around with Tucker to find Calvin standing behind Danny. She scowled at the wide grin upon his stupid face.

"Did I somehow give you the impression that I was through with you?" Calvin questioned, twisting the back of Danny's shirt so that collar cut even more into his throat.

"Why don't you just get lost already?" Sam demanded through clenched teeth.

"Or did beating up Henry last week not give you enough jollies?" Danny choked out as he struggled to pry his shirt free from the jock.

The grin fell from Calvin's face. He twisted around and slammed Danny into the lockers. Sam and Tucker jumped into action to help their friend, but Calvin's goony friends blocked their path, keeping them away from what was transpiring between their leader and Danny. Sam worried her lower lip as she watched Calvin hold Danny pinned to the lockers. Usually she would scold him for misusing his powers, but right now, she wanted Danny to just blast Calvin in the face for being such a jerk.

"So you think you're a funny man." Calvin sneered with his face right in front of Danny, who glared evenly back, not cowed by Calvin's show of intimidation.

"At least I don't think I'm some big bad going around beating up on everyone in the school," Danny retorted with a snort. "Are you _trying_ to get kicked out of school before graduation? Because you're doing a really good job of heading down that road."

"You!" Calvin growled as he drew back a fist.

Sam held her breath waiting for Danny to do _something_ before Calvin could punch him, but Danny merely stood there with that even glare still on his face, not even blinking at the thought of the coming punch. She tried to push her way past the other jocks, but the one standing before her with his dark brown hair slicked back with far too much grease wouldn't let her pass him and get to her friend.

"Hey!"

At the shout, Sam stopped and blinked as she gazed past where Calvin stilled, his fist inches from slamming into Danny's face. Even the two jocks turned around to see the woman coming down the hall. They gulped, paling slightly, when they saw Paulina stomping toward their gathering, with Star following a step behind her. They apparently didn't want to tangle with the reigning queen of the school because they quickly turned tail and fled like cowering idiots.

"What do you want?" Calvin demanded, and though he dropped his arm to his side, he still held Danny pinned to the lockers, refusing to release the raven haired man.

"You hurt Danny," Paulina said in voice so cold that Sam felt a chill run through her, "and I'll repay the favor in full." She placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her emerald eyes in a look that could probably make some of the ghosts Danny faced flee for their afterlives. Sam, once again, found herself impressed with this different side of Paulina that she was seeing.

"You think I'm scared of Dash and Kwan?" Calvin snorted. "Those two have gone soft. I could probably knock them both out with my arms tied behind my back."

"Wow," Star said in a dull voice as she rolled her eyes. "You think Paulina needs to rely on Dash and Kwan to save her from idiots?" She shook her head and seemed to be holding back a laugh. "Her dad could crush you between his thumb and forefinger. Do you really think he wouldn't make sure his daughter could handle herself in a fight?"

Sam didn't know if Star was exaggerating or not, but that stern, determined glare on Paulina's face exuded a confidence that made the Goth woman believe that Paulina just might actually be capable of crushing the jock without even breaking a sweat in the process. A front like that could go a long way to driving back an opponent if they fell into believing that she was a strong, trained fighter, and it was no wonder to Sam now why the other two jocks fled the first moment they saw that anger in Paulina's eyes.

"Whatever," Calvin muttered as he stepped back, releasing his hold on Danny. "I don't have time for this." He headed down the hall, and even though Paulina moved out of his way, he still rammed his shoulder into her as he passed. Paulina took a single step back but stood strong after that, refusing to stumble and show any hint of weakness before the jock.

"Thanks, Paulina," Danny said as he stood up straight, tugging his shirt forward so that the collar wasn't tightly wrapped around his throat anymore.

Paulina shook her head, turning a smile onto him. "Don't mention it."

"Wow," Tucker breathed out in amazement, and Sam frowned, mouth pressing thin as she turned a glare on him. "Could you really kick his ass?"

Paulina lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "It's not a lie that my papa taught me a few things growing up, but I don't know that I could really take him on."

"Well, he must have believed you could if he walked away," Sam said, but then her brow furrowed as she stared at the other woman. "But what brings you here? Shouldn't you be off hanging out with Dash and Kwan or something?"

"We thought we would catch you before class to discuss some stuff about, you know," Star said.

"About what?" Tucker asked, glancing from Paulina and Star to Sam and back again. "Wait. Why are you working with them? Am I the only one not hanging out secretly with the A list?" He frowned with a look that said he felt left out of the group.

"It's not like we're friends or anything." Star wrinkled her nose at the techno geek.

"We're just working on a little project is all." Paulina shrugged as she walked over to grab hold of Sam's arm and pull her along down the hall.

"The more she stays secretive about it, the more I worry about what it is," Danny told Tucker.

"So here's the thing," Paulina said as she walked on one side of Sam, and Star on the other side had a pad of paper out and a pen at the ready to jot down notes. "While we might get a few guys to join in, the likelihood of raking in a lot of money is pretty slim. I mean, I know I could ask my papa to give me a few hundred dollars, but not everyone is going to be able to do that. Some people don't come from wealthy families, and others aren't going to want to throw away that much money, even if it's for a good cause and a date to the prom. I was thinking we should do something more if we really want to get a decent amount of money, both for the zoo and the school."

"What thoughts did you have?" Sam felt her mind spinning as she listened to Paulina. The other woman was putting a lot more thought into this than Sam would have imagined her doing the day before yesterday.

"Well, I thought maybe we could have an auction type thing for the parents. And I don't mean another date like thing," Paulina said hurriedly before Sam could even get a word into the conversation. "It should be something school involved, like-" She paused for a moment to think then clapped her hands together in excitement. "Like we could get some of the art students to put together paintings and sculptures and stuff to be auctioned off. Or some people that sew stuff. Quilts always seem to be a bigger seller."

"You're really getting into this, aren't you?" Sam asked, shaking her head in amazement that Paulina was coming up with so many ideas for how to raise money.

"I don't believe in doing something only halfway," Paulina answered as she brushed back some of her hair. "That's what my mama always said. If I'm going to do something, I should stick with it and do the very best that I can with it."

"Well, I really appreciate that you're going through all this trouble to help," Sam said, truly meaning it.

"It's for a good cause, after all." Paulina paused in front of a classroom door. "After school, we should hit up the artsy people and talk to them about setting up that auction too."

Sam nodded. "Then I'll you after school." She waved to the other two before she headed off to her first class. When she first discovered that Paulina would be helping her, Sam thought it would turn out to be a nightmare. Now she was really glad to have Paulina as the one helping her put together the auction.

* * *

**Ignacia Kitty Dolohov-Potter**: That... That could happen! Somehow!

**jelloshots99**: Dash is like "Kwan, my buddy old pal. *wraps arm around Kwan's shoulders* It's time I introduce you to the art of flirting." LoL! Dash, your flirting didn't work so well either! XD So close to the jacket! Haha, but imagine if Danny needed to borrow pants too. Kwan literally would have gotten Danny into his pants. 8D;; *shot for being horrible*

**Some Weird Chick**: Ah~ The auction should be fun. 8D That's okay! Fresh air can be good. XD;; Sometimes. *stays holed up inside writing on the computer* The sunlight, it burns! But seriously, every time my dad says I should get out more, I'm like "... the sun makes my skin break out..." And that's no joke. Even when I put on sun tan lotion, my skin still breaks out from being in the sun too long. I'm glad you like my stories! 8D

**Guest**: Hopefully, it'll be good! XD;; I have some of that scene already pictured in my head. Is it rainy weather for you? O: I like rainy weather~

**midnight**: B'aw~ They'd be so cute! And now Dash has it preserved~ 8D Hm, what could have happened to Star?

**Just Will**: Oooh~ That one! 8D Haha, the first time Lex and Xan made an appearance. XD;; *strokes chin* I guess that's what happens when I'm not aware of school events. I never went to anything held by my high school. Well, there was one dance freshman year, but after being ditched and left there alone, I decided it wasn't worth it to go to anymore. Prom especially seemed like a waste with the amount of money spent on it and then going alone and knowing I wouldn't have any fun at all. -.- Yeah, prom wasn't for me. Hm, what could the new threat be? 8) Yeah, I did realize that about the auction. Not all of them will have tons of cash like Paulina and Sam. But hopefully this other auction idea improves their fund raising chances?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 07**

"I can't believe it!" Tucker threw his arms up in the air as he walked along side Danny. "You hang out with Dash and Kwan. Sam hangs out with Paulina and Star. Why am I the only one that isn't hanging out with people on the A list?"

"It's not like I'm hanging out with them for fun," Danny said, shrugging. Though oddly enough, he had to admit that it was sometimes fun hanging out with Kwan and Dash while they studied. Somehow, even when it was boring old math that gave him a headache, Danny enjoyed spending time with Kwan last night. Sometimes to break up the monotony of working on math problems and writing things out in French, Kwan would do impressions of some of the teachers, and they were pretty funny.

"We're not," Tucker frowned as he glanced toward Danny, "drifting apart, are we?" Worry shone in his green eyes.

"Don't be crazy!" Danny patted his friend on the shoulder. "Do you really think they're going to replace you and Sam as my best friends? Dash might not be as much of a jerk anymore, and Kwan's always been nice, but _you_," he squeezed Tucker's shoulder and gave him a little shake, "will always be my best bro."

"Thanks." Tucker hugged an arm around Danny's shoulders. "But you know," he frowned again, "with graduation and then going to college in the fall, we don't have a lot of time to hang out before we go our separate ways."

"Well, it's not like we won't ever see each other again. There's summer. And we'll keep in touch." Danny stopped in the middle of the hall, holding onto both of Tucker's shoulders. "We shall make a point of it. Even if it's just once a day to tell each other something stupid that happened that day, we shall talk to each other and make sure we don't lose touch."

Determination burned in Tucker's eyes. "That's a promise!" They slapped right hands up high and left hands down low, then pounded fists, bumped hips, spun around, snapped fingers, and ended with their index fingers pointing at each other. "Do you think we're too old for secret handshakes?" He frowned as they started walking down the hall again.

"No way! It's totally cool." Danny grinned widely. "See you at lunch!" He waved to Tucker before heading into his first class of the day.

"Now I know where she gets it."

Danny turned to find Valerie standing by the door to their history class. "Gets what?" His brow creased as they walked to their desks. They had sat next to each other in history class since the beginning of the year.

Sometimes, it seemed strange to him that they could get along so well together after Valerie spent most of their freshmen year hating him and wanting to capture, and potential kill, his ghost half. Now they were friends, or at least, in Danny's mind they were friends. Valerie kept her ghost hunting mostly to Emerston, and from what Danny knew, she left the peaceful ghosts alone and only went after the violent ones that were causing trouble now. He was happy to see that she let go of her anger over what happened with her father losing his job.

"That whole dork handshake thing," Valerie said, shaking her head. "She tries to get me to do that sometimes."

The corner of his mouth tugged upward. "You totally do the handshake with her." Danny tried not to laugh when Valerie sent him a scowling glare. "Aw, come on! It's cool!"

Valerie groaned as she rubbed her head. "Sometimes, the two of you share too many similarities. She says that exact same thing when I say no."

"Can't be helped." Danny shrugged as he got out his notebook and textbook. "She _is_ my clone after all. We're bound to share a few traits in common. But hey, we're not completely the same."

"True." Valerie nodded, and a smirk cut across her face. "She's a lot more fun."

"Hey!" Danny protested with a pout. "I can be fun."

"Sure you can." Valerie smiled, but her tone had that insincere quality of someone agreeing to a child who didn't know any better. She ignored his icy glare as she leaned over the aisle, balancing with one hand on his desk. "So," she said slowly, eyebrows lifting in curiosity, "want to explain why you're wearing one of Kwan's shirts?"

Danny spluttered at the question, feeling warmth creeping into his cheeks much like when Tucker and Sam asked about the too large shirt. "What? It's not!"

Valerie reached up with her free hand and tugged at the collar. "Then why does it have this splash of blue nail polish that split on it?" She gave him that deadpanned look of not buying his lies as she showed him the stain.

"It's-"

"Mr. Fenton, Ms. Gray, I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to direct your attention back to class," their teacher Mr. Donovan said, his mouth thinning into a rather unhappy frown as he glared at the pair. He was a fairly young teacher, still having most of his blond hair and mustache growing on his upper lip. Some of the women in the class thought he was dreamy, but Danny didn't really see it.

Valerie quickly drew herself back across the aisle to sit upright, giving the teacher her full attention. Or at least until the teacher turned back around to the board. She dropped her attention to her notebook and scribbled something out on the page. Then as quietly as she could, she ripped a strip from the page of the notebook. After folding it three times, she checked that the teacher wasn't looking then tossed it onto Danny's desk.

Frowning, Danny picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it to read what Valerie wrote.

_Smells nice, doesn't it?_

Danny stared at the winking face at the end of the question. Trying to be discreet about it, he tugged up the collar of the shirt and gave it a sniff. It did have a fairly pleasant smell to it, like coconut vanilla with a hint of leather. He paused, the shirt slipping from his grasp as he realized what he was doing. Another note hit his desk. His brow creased as he picked it up to read the new message.

_Did you two have fun last night?_

Danny snapped his head around, eyes growing wide. He picked up his pen to write a note back, so that he didn't draw their teacher's attention to them again. But before he could write anything beyond "It's not," a third not fell onto his desk. His teeth clenched as he unfolded it to read what Valerie had to say next.

_Hey, it's okay if you're bisexual. If your clone is, it's not surprising that you would be too. And there's nothing wrong with it if you are. Kwan's a great guy. You'd be cute together_.

His face felt like it was on fire with the blush that exploded onto his face after he read the note. His gaze stuck on the last line, and his insides seemed to twist. He would be cute together with Kwan? He really hadn't even had time to sit and think about liking anyone while trying keep his grades up so that he could graduation and get into a good college. Even if he was already accepted to a college and graduation wasn't long off, he didn't think he should just slack off now. He could rest once summer came. But it wasn't like Kwan was a bad guy or anything. He was nice and always tried to make Danny feel welcomed, especially at the beginning when they first started tutoring each other, and Dash. He was smarter than most people gave him credit for, excelling in math, science, and anything to do with computers. He was fun to chat with and liked watching the same type of movies that Danny did. But Danny hadn't really stopped to consider him as anything beyond being friends. A fourth note dropping onto his desk distracted him from his thoughts.

The note read: _So what really happened?_

Danny wrote out his message under it. _Nothing. I went over to house last night because I needed help with math, and I ended up falling asleep_. They were so caught up in studying, and the occasional goofing off, that he forgot about calling his parents to let them know where he was. If they tried to call him, he missed the calls, which wasn't surprising when he realized his phone was set to vibrate and was sitting at the bottom of his bag the next morning. _I borrowed the shirt because I didn't want to show up to school with them while wearing the same shirt from yesterday_. After folding the note, he tossed it back to Valerie.

Danny focused his attention on taking notes about the lecture their teacher was giving, but he only got about a minute before another note turned up on his desk.

_Aw man! I wish I had been there! I bet you two would look adorable sleeping next to each other!_

Danny didn't think his face could burn any hotter with the blush on his face. He chanced a glance toward Valerie, but she was facing the board, jotting down notes with a tiny smirk on her face. Sometimes, Danny thought it was easier to deal with her when she was trying to kill him. He scribbled out a reply. _Probably not as cute as you and Elle. By the way, how is she? I haven't heard from her in a while_.

After returning the note to her, Danny returned to the lesson. History wasn't one of his favorite subjects, but he didn't feel as stressed out about letting his attention stray for a bit during class. He would much rather be sitting in English class though, or any class talking about space and the stars. As expected, a few minutes later, he received another note. His eyes grew wide at what was written next on the paper.

"What?" Danny jerked his head up and gawked at Valerie.

"Something you'd like to share with the class, Mr. Fenton?" Mr. Donovan questioned with a sour expression upon his face, not pleased to have his lecture interrupted.

"No, Sir," Danny responded promptly. Mr. Donovan narrowed his eyes but then returned back to teaching the class. Danny had trouble concentrating for the remainder of class, leaving the topic of the last note for after class when they could speak uninterrupted. As soon as the bell rang and everyone started packing up their things, Danny caught Valerie by the arm before she could leave. "What do you mean she went to see Vlad?" he demanded in a whisper.

"Well, you know, after your _mom_ basically ripped out his heart and crushed it in her hand, he's kind of not been himself," Valerie reminded, making Danny cringe at the memory of his mother shouting at Vlad the last time he dared to show his face to Danny's parents. Maddie didn't exactly go easy on him, telling him that she was never going to love a scheming sleaze ball and to never come around to their house again. Danny felt a bit bad for Vlad, even after all the crap he pulled in the past. The older half ghost's expression just looked so crushed after Maddie finished yelling at him. But it was because of the schemes he pulled in the past that Danny understood why his mother reacted that way. He could also understand why Valerie could forgive him for using her. In a time when she was angry and bitter and looking to release that rage, Vlad gave her a purpose and the mains to achieve revenge, though Danny wasn't too happy about that at the time. Vlad gave her a job, which helped with her father making much less money after the whole Cujo incident.

"So she went up there just to check on him?" Danny frowned, worried for his "cousin."

"Despite all the shit that happened, he is, in a way, still her father." Valerie pulled her book bag onto her shoulders and led the way out of the classroom. "He might have treated her like crap, but there's still that bond that I think she really hopes they can forge into something stronger now. Part of me really didn't want her to go, but," she halted and turned to Danny with a frown and her brow creased, "I didn't think it was right to stop her from trying. If they can heal their wounds, it might be really good for the both of them. I lost my mom. I know what it's like to wish so badly to have that connection with someone you've lost. But Vlad's still here. She can be with him and have that father figure. If Vlad can open himself up to see her as his daughter."

"For Elle's sake, I really hope it works out between them." Danny still didn't like the idea of it, and he understood perfectly why Elle wouldn't say anything about it to him. She knew he would stop her if she told him what she was planning. "I just feel like it'll only turn out badly, and Elle's going to pay for it with feeling even more hurt because of him."

"I know." Valerie sighed, dropping her gaze. "But if we don't let her do this, it's going to be something that she always wonders about. She'll always have that want to see Vlad again and try to reconnect with him. I can't stop her, even if I think it'll mean she'll get hurt."

"Well, I'm glad she has you to lean on too," Danny said with a small smile, thankful that Valerie was a part of Elle's life.

"I just hope she won't need to lean on either of us. She doesn't need any more pain because of Vlad."

Danny nodded in agreement. Then with a wave, they parted ways, each heading to their next classes.

* * *

**Dr. Strawberries**: I actually hadn't planned on Sam and Paulina being a thing. XD;; Danny and Kwan are such cuties~ *strokes chin* I was contemplating what to do next after this chapter, as I don't want to rush into revealing too much right off the bat about a certain thing that's happening. A ghost attack could be good. But, hm~ What ghost to use?

**Snowleopard0**: Woo, bad ass Paulina! 8D Haha, well, when I started the story, I was thinking it would be Tucker and Sam hooking up as a couple. XD;; But it seems like some of you are liking the idea of Sam and Paulina being together. XD

**Ignacia Kitty Dolohov-Potter**: It's okay, Danny! Kwan will protect you! 8D

**Some Weird Chick**: Sam definitely suspects that something is up with Danny wearing a shirt too big for him. Unlike Tucker, she did notice the change in clothing Danny wore. XD;; But yeah, she didn't make any connection with Kwan. There is something I've had in mind to happen before the auction. But it's not quite time for that to happen yet. I rubbed suntan lotion all over my arms! DX And they still got an angry rash on them that had for a week!

**Lemonybean**: Yay awesome Paulina! 8D Plotting to help her friend hooking up with his crush? 8) Perhaps.

**midnight**: *pets Danny* No~ The poor boy can't get beaten up~ ...Not yet at least. *laughs evilly into the sunset*


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 08**

"So I'm going to be busy all afternoon," Paulina explained as they walked down the hall.

"Did I hear that right?" Kwan whispered to Dash, who stood in the center as they headed for the cafeteria. As soon as their classes ended and they met up at their lockers, Paulina launched into a rambling explanation of why she wouldn't be going home with them after school.

"Yeah," Dash said, looking no happier than Kwan felt at that moment. "Looks like we're stuck being pieces of a beef in the meat market."

"I," Kwan wrinkled his nose as he frowned, "don't think I like the idea of that. Can I pass?"

"And leave me there alone?"

"No!" Paulina stamped her foot firmly and glared with determination at Kwan. "You have to participate! It's for a good cause!"

"Yeah, but-" Kwan sighed, knowing there wasn't much point in arguing with Paulina. He wasn't really looking forward to the whole prom thing, though his friends were bound to drag him to it anyway. Even if he managed to get a date for it, how was he supposed to enjoy himself going with just some random woman? Now he was going to be offered up for women to bid on him and forced to go to prom with whomever won him. That didn't sound any more fun to him.

"Don't worry about it." Dash slapped a hand to his friend's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "You're a catch. I'm sure you'll rake in a nice sum of money."

"Yeah," Kwan mumbled, "sure." Dash was likely to be the real money draw of the action, since he was the most popular guy at Casper High. Kwan wasn't so sure that he would receive the same frenzy of bids that his friend would.

"There's still so much to work out!" Paulina said with that gleam of excitement in her eyes as they entered the cafeteria and got in line to get their lunches. "We need to do some advertising and pick out a night to hold the auction. It's got to be in enough time for everyone to coordinate with each other. Oh!" Her eyes lit up suddenly as an idea hit her. "Dresses! Everything about prom is pretty expensive. Buying the tickets, people who rent limos, dresses are a huge expense. We could have some handmade dresses up for auction for those that are looking for a good deal on a dress if they can't afford one from a store."

"I think we've lost her," Dash muttered as he held out his tray for the lunch lady to drop the mess of sloppy Joe onto it.

"Well, I guess we knew eventually she'd drag us into whatever she was planning." Kwan sighed as he followed along after his friends. He skipped over something gray and mushy, and quite possibly still alive from the way it bubbled and moved. Most of the food at the cafeteria was edible. Then there was the questionable stuff that had possible gained sentience over time. With all the ghosts running around Amity Park, Kwan wouldn't be all that surprised if their presence caused some sort of mutation to organic matter.

"You think I'm scared of you!"

The shout stopped nearly all conversation in the cafeteria, and Kwan craned around Dash to glance up the line to the person who caused the commotion. His jaw almost dropped open as he gawked at the scrawny, wiry limbed nerd with thick glasses that had a habit of slipping down the long slant of his nose. He had terribly crooked teeth that his braces seemed to have done little to help. His brown hair was slicked over to one side, but there was a stubborn lock that remained standing up no matter how much grease the man used. Kwan almost fell right over when the brown haired nerd flipped the tray of the jock standing in front of him, splattering the bigger man with sloppy Joe. The jock Tony could only stand there with a look of utter shock on his face, matching the expression of virtually everyone else in the cafeteria.

"You want to go? Let's go!" The nerd raised his hands, balled up in fists, before him as if ready to start a fight with Tony, who could probably crush the nerd's narrow frame in one hand.

"Mr. Parker!" Lancer barked as he crossed through the cafeteria to where the nerd and jock were causing a scene. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Sir, I swear all I did was bump into him by accident," Tony said, still seeming horribly confused by what happened.

"Accident, sure!" Parker nodded, rolling his brown eyes in that way of someone not believing the other man.

"I apologized!" Tony argued, turning from bafflement to anger. "You're the one that flipped the tray looking for a fight."

"Enough!" Lancer shouted over them. "You two," he pointed at the pair, "with me. Now!" He walked toward the exit of the cafeteria with Tony and Parker following him. The whole of the cafeteria watched them go in silence until the door swung shut behind them. Then everyone exploded into murmurs over what happened.

"What was _that_?"

Kwan turned to see Danny standing beside him with his two friends. "No idea," he said, shaking his head. He doubted anyone knew what possibly spurred Parker into reacting that way.

"Oh, Sam!" Paulina grabbed hold of the Goth woman's arm. "I've got some ideas to talk to you about."

"I'll wait for you by the door. Then we can find some place quiet to talk about it," Sam said, nodding her head.

"Are you ever going to tell us what the two of you are plotting?" Tucker demanded with a frown.

"Eventually." Sam smirked deviously.

Kwan lifted his eyebrows in surprise. Sam was keeping the whole auction thing secret from her friends? He thought the three friends shared everything with each other, but perhaps Sam thought springing it on them at the minute to make it impossible for them to back out of participating in the auction. Kwan was tempted to tell the other two men, just so that they wouldn't be blindsided when the auction came. On the other hand, Sam could be scary when angered.

The line moved, and Kwan followed his friends closer to the end of the line. Danny waved to Sam as she went to wait for Paulina. Then he and Tucker went to find an empty table to sit at and eat their lunch. The cafeteria remained abuzz with rumors over the scene between Tony and Parker. Kwan overhead someone mention the possibility of Parker being taken over by pod people, like in some science fiction movie. He snorted at that idea. A ghost possession was much more likely than the possibility that pod people really existed.

Once they had their lunch, they bid farewell to Paulina, who hurried to meet up with Sam to talk more about the auction. It was strange seeing those two getting along so well, especially since they butted heads quite often in the past. But people would think it strange that Dash could get along with Danny after all the bullying that Dash did in the past. Bullying was always his least favorite aspect of being a jock. Kwan walked with Dash, but instead heading for their usual table with the rest of the football jocks, Dash led the way over to the table Danny and Tucker sat across from each other, laughing over something.

"Uh, what are we doing?" Kwan nearly stumbled over his feet as he snapped his gaze toward his friend.

"Proving I can be nice to Fenton." Dash turned a smirk onto Kwan. "After all, I don't want your," his voice lowered so that no one else would be able to hear him, "boyfriend to think that your friends hate him."

"Dash!" Kwan's face burned as they neared the table where Danny sat.

"Uh, did you guys get lost?" Danny questioned, looking up at them when they reached where the pair of friends sat at the end of one table.

"No." Dash took up a seat next to Tucker, leaving only the spot next to Danny for Kwan to sit.

"Am I about to get pounded into a meat patty?" Tucker asked worriedly, hunching up to make himself appear smaller while Dash ignored him to start eating his sloppy Joe.

"It's cool," Danny said with a happy smile. "I'm confused as to why they're over here instead at their usual table, but they're not going to beat us up."

"So your Goth bud is keeping in the dark about her little project?" Dash smirked with a smear of sauce on his face.

Danny shrugged, poking at the salad on his tray. "It's a usual thing really. She's bound to tell us eventually." He glanced toward Dash and lifted an eyebrow. "Paulina seems very into whatever it is."

Dash shrugged. "That's the way it is with her. She's gets going on something, and she goes all out."

Kwan felt a kick under the table and held back a yelp when he caught Dash giving him a look. His mouth thinned as he realized Dash's true purpose for sitting here. He knew he had a reason to hate Dash picking up on his crush on Danny. His friend was staging this whole thing so that Kwan and Danny would talk, but now that he was put on the spot, Kwan found his mind blanking of anything to say. It was a lot easier to talk with Danny one on one without either of their friends with them. He could feel the color draining from his face as panic set in the longer it took him to think of _anything_ to talk about with Danny. If this was a date, it would be the most awkward thing in the world.

"So it seems like Phantom's been out of the news for a while," Kwan said, grasping at the first topic to pop into his head. As soon as the words left his mouth, he cringed internally and wished he could take them back. He mentally kicked his brain, yelling at himself for being stupid as Danny shared a look with his friend and silence stretched over the four of them again. "I just, you know, your parents were always after him." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Dash looking like he wanted to smack his forehead. Grinding his teeth, Kwan sent a swift kick to Dash's shin.

"Oh, well, yeah," Danny said, scratched at the back of his head. "My parents are pretty disappointed that they haven't been able to catch him."

"Why are your parents so gung-ho about capturing him anyway?" Kwan asked seriously with his brow creased. "I mean, he's not the one attacking people. He's fighting off the other ghosts that _are_ causing trouble in town."

Danny shrugged with a frown. "I guess, just cause he's a ghost." That odd look of sadness in his blue eyes made Kwan want to reach out and take hold of Danny's hand and squeeze it tightly in comfort. "They don't really see the difference between good and bad where ghosts are concerned. To them, all ghosts are the villain. If anything, they probably want to capture Phantom and dissect him to figure out why he's such an anomaly to their perfect little belief of how all other ghosts act."

"Sometimes, I kind of think your parents are missing a few dozen screws in their heads," Dash said with a scowl. He, of course, remained a strong fan of Phantom, and he hated hearing about what Danny's parents might do if they ever caught him.

"Well, they are trying to keep the town safe from ghosts," Kwan said, his aqua green eyes sliding toward Danny to gauge his reaction to Dash's comment.

"All I'm trying to say is that it would be better if they joined sides with Phantom rather than getting in his way," Dash said before picking up his soda and popping the top open.

"This is so weird," Tucker mumbled, drawing both jocks' attention onto him. He shrank down as if appearing smaller would save him from a pounding, though Dash and Kwan had no intention of beating up on him. Kwan didn't, at least, and he hoped Dash wouldn't either. Having a friend beat up on his crush's friend probably wouldn't help anything. "I didn't say anything. Don't mind me. Please don't hurt me."

"Tuck, I already told you they're not going to hurt you." Danny flicked a piece of lettuce at his friend.

"Ah! Not the evil vegetables!" Tucker tried to push it off his tray with a fork. "It's my kryptonite!"

"Vegetables are your kryptonite?" Kwan lifted a brow, chuckling at the techno geek's response. "What amazing superpowers do they drain from you?"

"His keen sense of smell," Danny said jokingly. "Although that only applies to meat products." He bit into a carrot as he glanced around the cafeteria. "Though," he chewed over the piece of carrot for a moment, "I do agree it's kind of weird. Not that I have any problems hanging out with you guys, but," he frowned, his gaze drifting between the two jocks, "everyone's kind of staring and whispering at us."

"That's what happens when you sit with the great Dash Baxter." The blond jock wore a smirk of superiority that gained a roll of his friend's eyes.

"Yeah, well," Danny returned the look with a flat stare, "it doesn't look like some of your jock buddies approve you sitting over here with us losers. And I'd rather not have another run in with Calvin before the end of the year if I can avoid it."

"What?" Kwan nearly choked on his drink of water as he twisted around toward Danny. "What did that ass do to you?" He knew Calvin was a jerk and was one of the jocks lobbying to bring bullying back as a staple of being in the A list, while he and Dash had set the example of not focusing on bullying over the past three years. If Calvin was looking to take over before the end of the year by moving in on Dash's former favorite target, Kwan was going to have to have some words, or fists, with him.

Danny shook his head. "He was going to punch me but then ran away like a chicken when Paulina showed up."

"Beautiful and deadly. Someone's luck to have her as a girlfriend." Tucker smirked nudging Dash in the ribs. But when Dash turned a glare on him, Tucker laughed awkwardly and cringed away from him. "Right. Won't do that again."

"I've decided," Kwan said as he remained facing Danny, "I'm going to walk with you, whenever I can, to classes."

"That's not necessary," Danny said with a shake of his head. "Calvin's a dick, but he looks for anyone to beat up. I just happened to be the target this morning. He'll probably forget all about me tomorrow and pick on someone else."

Kwan didn't care what argument Danny tried to use. He knew quite well what kind of person Calvin was, and he knew Calvin wouldn't simply give up because of one little bump. The man didn't seem to possess one decent bone in his body, and Kwan didn't plan on giving him the chance to go after Danny again. When they finished lunch, Kwan walked with Danny through the halls, ignoring when Danny claimed it wasn't necessary.

* * *

**Some Weird Chick**: Yes~ Don't forget that Danny is wearing Kwan's shirt~ 8D Haha, I couldn't resist having Valerie tease him some.

**Ignacia Kitty Dolohov-Potter**: XD Poor Danny~

**midnight**: Valerie does indeed know about Danny. She's in on all the half ghost stuff.

**Guest**: Yes~ Valerie has gotten over the whole revenge thing with Phantom, and I think Elle helped a lot with that. Danny's parents don't know anything about half ghosts existing. Maddie may not know about Vlad being half ghost, but she wasn't oblivious to his attempts to get Jack out of the way so that he could steal her for himself. I hope I can make this a long one too. XD Oh! Good catch, good catch! I totally overlooked that while editing. But it's fixed now! =D Hm, why is there a distinction between married and unmarried for women but not one for men? Curious.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 09**

Danny ducked out of the way as a cardboard box flew at him. "Are we really going through this _again_?" he asked tiredly as he folded his arms and floated above the floor of the warehouse. His time fighting ghosts may have become less hectic over the years, but the Box Ghost always seemed to make an appearance on a weekly basis. "It's Friday night. I actually got most of my homework done already. I just want to go home and sleep until noon tomorrow. Can we skip the whole fight thing and you just let me capture you and send you back to the Ghost Zone?"

"You," the Box Ghost abandoned his rummage through the boxes within the warehouse to fly up to Danny and point a finger at the half ghost's chest, "do not scare me! I am the Box Ghost! You, Danny Phantom, should fear my awesome powers over all things cardboard and cubed!"

Danny rolled his green eyes and resisted the urge to sigh out of exasperation in dealing with the Box Ghost yet again. "We've done this dance before. Shall we just get to the part where I pummel you?" He pounded one fist into his other hand.

The Box Ghost threw a quick glance over his shoulder, a strange anxious look crossing his face before he floated a little closer to Danny. "Might I ask a favor?" He tapped his index fingers together with a hopeful look in his eyes.

Danny's brow creased with worry. "What exactly is the favor?" The Box Ghost never asked him for anything, and Danny wasn't sure he would like doing any favors for the ghost.

The Box Ghost laughed awkwardly. "Um," he clapped his hands together and bowed his head, "let me put you away with my boxes of doom?"

Danny blinked several times, wondering if he misheard that request. "Come again?"

"My daughter's in here watching," the Box Ghost explained in a hushed tone. "I don't want her thinking her papa's a weakling." He frowned, shoulders sagging with defeat. The expression on his blue face tugged at Danny's heart because he could remember seeing that kind of expression on his own father's face when he thought himself a failure in his son's eyes. He could certainly understand wanting to look good in front of his daughter.

Danny took a deep breath and released it slowly. "All right. I let you do this once," he stared firmly at the ghost as he lifted up one finger, "and you stay in the Ghost Zone. No more random pop ups just to be annoying."

The Box Ghost stared for a moment before a devilish smirk crossed his face. "Excellent. Now feast upon my boxed up fury!" The boxes around them started to glow with a ghostly aura as they lifted into the air as the Box Ghost raised his arms over his head.

"Oh no!" Danny shouted dramatically, trying to appear frightened by the display. "I can't fight off all these boxes?" He clamped his eyes shut, drawing himself into a ball with his arms crossed over his face as he raised a feeble green shield around him. The boxes crashed into the shield that broke upon the second impact. "You are much too powerful for me! I am just a weak little half ghost. I could never stand against a full ghost and hope to win!" The boxes slammed into him, and he made grunts and groans as they pushed him around and knocked him onto the floor. "I am defeated!" Danny gasped out, pretending to fall unconscious.

"Aha!" the Box Ghost shouted in triumphant. "Not even Danny Phantom can withstand my might."

"Papa's so strong!" The little three year old ghost appeared, hanging off one of the Box Ghost's arm. Danny cracked open an eye enough to take in what was happening around him.

"Indeed!" The Box Ghost lifted his daughter up, balancing her small body in the palm of one hand. "Your papa is the strongest!" He grinned at his daughter, and Danny had to admit it was a touching scene. "Now, we must return home to your mama." He placed a finger to his mouth. "But shh! This shall be our secret."

His daughter nodded, excited to share the secret with her father.

Danny waited until after the Box Ghost and his daughter were long gone. Then he phased up through the boxes with a sigh. He guessed that was worth a small interruption in his night if it meant putting a smile on little Box Lunch's face and kept the Box Ghost from returning to the real world to bother him. A pretend fight was a lot less painful than a real one.

Leaving the warehouse, Danny flew back toward where he hid his book bag. Other than the Box Ghost, the rest of the town was fairly quiet of activity, which was how he ended up getting most of his homework done already. He grinned at the thought of having the weekend free to rest and relax and lounge out with his friends instead of scrambling to get all his homework done for Monday.

A cold chill ran down his spine as he gasped, catching the sight of a blue wisp escaping his parted lips. Danny sighed at the thought of facing off against another ghost. It had been quite some time since he had multiple ghosts in one night to fight. He changed course, hoping to Thermos the ghost quickly so that he could get home and sleep. When he phased through the wall of one house, Danny scanned around the bedroom, frowning when he saw someone from his school. He never actually spoke to woman with long orangey red hair and braces, but he remembered passing her sometimes in the hall at school. Her brow was creased in her sleep with sweat gathering upon it as she mumbled unintelligibly in her sleep.

Danny searched with his ghost sense, but whatever ghost was present moments ago had fled before he arrived. He scratched his head over that, believing there wasn't enough time for the ghost to escape his range that fast. Not unless the ghost was like Wulf and possessed the ability to slide between the real world and the Ghost Zone by opening his or her own portal. He sighed and shook his head. At least he didn't have to fight within someone's bedroom. He didn't want to risk harming the sleeping woman or wrecking her room. After waiting a moment, just in case the ghost made a reappearance, he left her house and continued on his way.

"I should probably be more concerned about that," Danny mumbled to himself as he grabbed his book bag from where he stashed it before heading home. "But I think my bed is calling me." It could have always been a low ranked ghost that appeared like a random blip on his radar but wasn't worth being concerned about. There were plenty of harmless ghosts drifting here and there that didn't even get picked up on his parents' detection devices because their ecto signatures were simply too low to register on them.

When he reached his house, Danny dropped his book bag onto the chair at his desk as he transformed back into human. Yawning widely, he stretched his arms over his head then crashed on his bed. It felt like he had just drifted off to sleep when he heard a knock on his door. He groaned as he rolled onto his back, pulled out a pleasant dream involving waking up after a long night studying with Kwan but in a slightly different manner.

Climbing out of bed, he rubbed at his eyes as he stumbled toward the door. "What?" he asked tiredly as he opened the door to his room.

"Are you just waking up?" His mother frowned at him. "It's already midday."

"I was up studying," Danny answered promptly, combing his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tame his wild bed head hair.

"I'm quite proud of how dedicated you've become to your education," Maddie wore a concerned look, "but be careful not to burn yourself out by over studying."

"I won't." Danny nodded. "Um, did you need something?" His eyebrows lifted curiously as he tilted his head.

"Oh yes! You have a visitor waiting for you downstairs."

Danny blinked as his brow knitted in the center. He couldn't remember making plans with Sam and Tucker yet. Then it hit him. "Dash!" He rushed past his mother then down the stairs to the front room where Dash sat waiting for him. "Oh man! I'm so sorry! I forgot all about our run today."

Dash shook his head as he climbed to his feet. "No run today. We got something else planned."

"Uh, what?" Danny rubbed at the side of his head, wondering if he was still dreaming.

"I can't really say what it is. Sworn to secrecy." Dash shrugged and led the way toward the door.

"Not really making me feel the confidence there." Danny frowned as he followed the jock but then he paused. "Uh, I should probably change first."

"You're fine." Dash grabbed him by the arm, pulling him out the front door.

"I'll be back later," Danny called to his parents before Dash drew the door shut behind them. "What?" he questioned when he spotted a smirk on Dash's face.

"You slept in the shirt?" Amusement flashed in Dash's dark blue eyes as he glanced Danny's way.

The blush crept onto his face before Danny could even attempt to stop it. "I passed out after staying up late studying," he said gruffly, shoving his hands in his pockets as he turned his head away from Dash. Did he start having that dream about Kwan because he could smell the jock's scent from his shirt? He shook the questioned from his mind as he climbed into Dash's shiny red Camaro. "You can't even give me a hint about what we're doing?"

"I promised I wouldn't say a word." Dash started the car and pulled away from the curb. "Paulina was very excited about it though."

"Oh no," Danny said with a groan. "Does this have anything to do with whatever Sam seems to be plotting with her?"

"There is a high possibility of that being correct."

Danny narrowed his eyes at the irritating smirk on Dash's face. "You're enjoying this far too much."

"Hey, I might like you, but I'm still kind of jerk underneath it all."

"Not completely a jerk. If you were a total jerk under it all, you wouldn't spend so much time making those teddy bears for the children in the hospital."

"And if you breathe a word of that to anyone, I will hurt you."

Danny held up his hands in surrender. "My lips are sealed." He glanced out the window at the passing scenery. "Where are we going?" He spot a bunch of different shops around, most looking like little independently owned places.

"We're almost there."

After a few more minutes, Dash parked the car in front of a small building. Danny glanced out the window at the sign above the door. Perez Pictures was written in delicate, curving gold lettering on a dark green background. He snapped his head around to give the jock a confused look, but Dash was already out of the car and slamming the door shut.

"What are we doing here?" Danny asked as he followed Dash out of the car and up to the entrance.

"Well, it's a photo gallery, so my guess would be someone's getting his picture taken today." Dash smirked, and Danny could only describe him as evil in that moment.

"What do you mean?" Danny's mouth pulled downward, fairly certain he wasn't going to like whatever was about to happen.

"Finally!" Paulina said with a sigh of relief. "I've been waiting for ages!" She grabbed hold of Danny and started dragging him toward the back. Danny threw a desperate glance back toward Dash, but the jock remained in the front area. "I already got Sam ready for the photo shoot."

"What exactly is going on?" Danny asked, wishing someone would fill him in, but Paulina ignored the question as she dragged him into a dressing room. "I think I can do this part by myself!" he shouted when Paulina started yanking up the hem of the white shirt.

Paulina sighed. "Okay. The suit is right there." She pointed to the black tux hanging on a hook on the wall. "Sam and I will be waiting in the next room." She closed the door behind her when she left the dressing room.

Danny stared at the tux and breathed out a tired sigh. What was Sam getting him into with this little project of hers? He hoped she would give him an explanation after this. He pulled off the shirt as he got ready to change clothes. When he finished putting on the tux and checked his reflection on the mirror on the back of the door, he groaned, thinking he looked like a penguin in it. He left the dressing room and headed into the next one to meet with Sam and Paulina.

"So explain this to me. Why am I here dressed in a tux?" Danny tugged at the collar of the shirt, which felt rather uncomfortable to him.

Paulina placed a hand to her chin as she looked him over with a critical eye. "Makeup!" She dragged Danny over a counter and forced him onto a stool.

"Answers please!" Danny tried to jerk his head away, but Paulina caught him by the chin in a surprisingly strong grip. He huffed out a breath as Paulina rubbed something onto his face.

"It's for prom, duh!" Paulina rolled her eyes at him. "Now hold still. I can't have the leading man being photographed with dark circles under his eyes." She dabbed below his eyes to hide the tired bags.

"And you chose Sam and me for prom pictures?" Danny resisted the urge to shake his head, and possibly anger the woman. "Wouldn't it be better to use you and Dash? The king and queen?"

Paulina stepped back to take a look at him then nodded her head in approval. "Well, Sam and I talked about it, and we decided that we should appeal more to the 'loser' demographic, which is sort of where you fall."

"Thanks," Danny grumbled miserably as Paulina pulled him over to stand before a backdrop that looked like a balcony with a starry night sky behind it. Would he never be rid of that label? He felt like it would follow him around for the rest of his life.

"You know, calling someone a loser doesn't really inspire them to want to help," Sam said with her arms folded as she stood patiently before the backdrop.

Paulina glanced at Sam before snapping her attention back to Danny. "My point," she continued as she positioned the other two, "is that having the two of you featured on the prom posters will appeal more to the unpopular crowd. I mean, sure, I could always use me and Dash," she stepped away from them to stand behind a camera, "but that would be totally expected. I want everyone to attend prom. I want the ones thinking of skipping out on prom to see you two and think that could be them. They can be the kings and queens of prom too. Prom is supposed to be the big dance of our high school career. It's supposed to be the dance we're supposed to spend the previous three years dreaming about attending. I want everyone there, and I want them to have a great time."

"She's really gotten into this ever since she started working with me on the auction," Sam side whispered to Danny.

"What?" Danny snapped his head around, his brow drawing toward the center. "What auction?"

Sam blinked then slapped a hand over her mouth. "Ah, we weren't going to tell you about that." She cringed as anger entered Danny's eyes.

"What auction?"

"The date auction." Sam winced as if expecting him to explode at her. "That's part of why we need to hurry up and get this pictures done. They're partly advertising for the prom, but more importantly promoting the auction where girls can bid on guys to go to prom with. You can't tell Tucker though. I'm going to wait until last minute to tell him about it."

"Am I getting dragged into this too?" Danny fought back to the urge to yell at her for the crazy idea.

"If you do this photo shoot without complaint, I promise you won't have to participate in the auction."

Danny narrowed his eyes, almost expecting to catch her in a lie. "You better stick to that." Then his gaze drifted back to Paulina. "But we only look good for the pictures because of you." He gestured at his face to indicate the makeup she put on him. "Is everyone going to have you for a fashion coordinator?"

Paulina pointed a finger at him with determination dancing in her eyes. "If that's what it takes!"

"I would never believe that this is the same Paulina from freshman year." Sam shook her head, a smile tugging at her mouth. "You've really changed my opinion of you."

Paulina shrugged. "We never really knew each other back then. We probably could have done a lot of good together if we hadn't been so antagonistic toward each other. But we've both changed since freshman year."

Sam placed her hands on her hips. "And how exactly have I changed?"

"I don't think she meant that as an insult," Danny said. "We've all grown and changed over the years. You're not exactly complaining about being put in that lavender dress." It was a strapless number that looked quite stunning on her. If he was here right now, Tucker would probably be drooling over the sight of the form fitting bodice with small sparkling jewels in an intricate pattern over the chest and flowing skirt. "You _have_ been a lot less black lately. What happened to the whole Goth image?"

"When did _you_ stop wearing pants so baggy they practically fall off if you don't wear a belt to hold them up?" Sam countered with a lift of her eyebrow.

"Oh!" Paulina clapped her hands, distracting the friends. "I just had a wonderful idea." She grabbed Sam's arm and pulled her off to the side, out of the camera's range. Then she returned to position Danny to the right side of the backdrop.

"What are you doing now?" Danny wondered if he should be worried about what the woman was planning.

"I'm going to take separate shots of the two of you," Paulina explained as she adjusted his pose. "Imagine it. The two of you alone," she spread her hands before her like she was envisioning her masterpiece, "looking all forlorn. Then your eyes meet, and it's like-" Her emerald eyes widened. "Oh! I think we even have the props!" She dashed out of the room.

"I'm not following any of this." Sam shook her head at Paulina's rambling. "Are you?" But Danny could only shrug, not understanding any better than his friend.

"Trust me." Paulina returned, carrying a crown and a pair of glass slippers in her hands. "This will be great. Danny will be Prince Charming, all depressed at the ball." She fitted the small crown on Danny's head. "Then enter Cinderella." She skipped over to Sam and presented the glass slippers to her. "Your eyes meet, and it's love at first sight. The theme of the night will be: A dream your heart makes." A wide, proud smile spread onto her face at that announcement. "That's what I want the night to be about: making dreams come true."

"Wow, when you get on a roll." Sam laughed, hardly believing how the woman's mind worked. "You really want to go all out for prom and the auction."

"Of course!" Paulina returned to her camera to start taking more pictures to use for the posters.

* * *

**Some Weird Chick**: I don't know that I would say possessive. He's just concerned that Calvin might seriously hurt Danny if given the chance. =( I'm glad you like my work! 8D Oh no! D: I hope you didn't hurt yourself falling out of the chair!

**Some dumb**: I feel like fictional works always overemphasis things like bullying. XD;; When I was in school, I never saw any of that happening. Then again, I was mostly in my own little world of thinking about things to write. But I imagine most bullying would be done out of sight. Wouldn't want the teachers catching them, now would they? =(

**midnight**: Poor Kwan baby~ He just wants to make a good impression, but he feels like he fumbled that one. D8

**Guest**: Darn it, ffnet! Stop logging people out! D: Awkward Kwan is cute~ XD;;; Haha, yeah. Like, "ah, Kwan~ Do you realize you're talking _to_ Phantom right then!?" And Danny and Tucker are just kind of glancing at each other like, "this is awkward." *strokes chin* Hm~ What could be happening to the people of Amity Park?


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Thanks for shopping at Circuit Central," Kwan said, smiling to the point that his face hurt as he handed over the bag to the woman on the other side of the register counter. "Please stop by again for all of your electronic needs."

The woman opened the bag and eyed the contents as if she expected to find some of her purchases missing despite that she watched him scan each item and place it into the bag. When she was satisfied that everything was there, she snapped the bag closed. Then with barely even a nod, she walked away, heading for the exit of the store. Kwan released his breath, feeling the tension melt from his shoulders once the woman was gone.

"Mrs. Nelson giving you problems?"

Kwan glanced over to see his co-worker Caitlyn leaning over the counter. She wore stylish green framed glasses that matched her eyes. It wasn't exactly allowed for employees to have oddly colored hair, but that didn't stop her from putting a random blue streak in her short, shiny ebony hair that had one side longer than the other.

"Oh yeah," Kwan answered with a nod. "She always makes me feel like she thinks I'm some criminal, quietly pocketing away the things _she_ paid for."

"She makes _everyone_ feel like that," Caitlyn said with a roll of her eyes. "I guess that's what happens when you're rich and look down your fake nose at everyone that has to work for their money." She huffed a sigh, probably happy that she wasn't the one that had to deal with Mrs. Nelson on her latest venture into the store. Mrs. Nelson came, maybe, once every three months or so to purchase something, like a new computer or television or something else. They had a running bet over what she would purchase on her next visit.

"I guess Ben won the bet this time around." Kwan chuckled, shaking his head. "I knew betting on the wide screen television would be the wrong choice."

"You haven't even won once since working here, sweet cheeks." Caitlyn reached over and ruffled his raven locks. "You suck at guessing." Her gaze drifted about the store. "Oh! Customer!" She wiggled her fingers at him in a brief wave before hurrying off to help an older man that was poking around at the cameras with some uncertainty.

Kwan laughed as he combed his fingers through his hair, trying to get them back into some semblance of order. Then he walked around the store to see if anyone needed his assistance. It was a slow day, and not too many people came into the store during his shift. He guessed most people had better things to do than spend their day roaming around a store full of electronics. When he noticed someone new enter the store, Kwan approached.

"Hello! Welcome to- Danny?" Kwan blinked in surprise to see the other man.

"Kwan?" Danny's eyes grew a fraction wider. "I didn't know you worked here."

"Only for about the last year or so." Kwan shrugged as if it was no big deal. He had only told Dash and Paulina about his job. "So," he folded his arms over the blue collared shirt all employees were forced to wear, though he hated it because he thought he looked terrible in the dark blue, "what brings you here? I would have thought Tucker would be more likely to shop around here on a day off from school."

"Well, it's Tucker's birthday in about two weeks," Danny explained as he strolled around glancing at the different products. "I want to be sure I have something ready to give him."

Kwan nodded as he walked beside Danny. "Well, he likes tech stuff, so this is a pretty good place to look for something for him. Did you have anything in mind?"

Danny's eyes surveyed the shelves before he turned a frown onto Kwan. "I'm not very good with all," he waved a hand around him, "this. And now that I think about it, he probably already has all the latest gadgets and gizmos." He reached up and scratched his hand through his hair. "What do I get him? I had this same problem when Sam's birthday rolled around."

"Hm." Kwan folded his arms as he pondered over it. "Friends can be hard to buy for sometimes. I was totally baffled over what to get Paulina. I mean, I know she likes jewelry and clothing, but she can also be picky about it. I didn't want to get her something she would hate. She, of course, would always do that thing where she says she likes it but really she hates it and plans to return it as soon as possible."

"What did you end up getting her?" Danny asked curiously. His blue gaze drifted briefly around as if trying to find something that popped out at him for a present, but his attention focused mostly on the man before him.

"I took her to a concert that she was pretty sure no one would want to go with her to. The band is, uh, kind of underground, and not exactly what the other A lists would consider good music. But Paulina's grown a sort of fond attachment to Blue Blaze." Kwan chuckled. "They were actually pretty good. I can almost see Sam liking them for the dark edginess of their music."

"Man!" Danny sighed out in disappointment. "You should have told me about them. I ended up getting Sam a new pair of boots from a thrift shop."

"Maybe next time." A smirk slipped onto Kwan's face. "Or you could pass the info onto Tucker and he could take Sam. Like it's a date."

"Ah, so there _are_ people who realize that there's nothing between Sam and me." Danny smirked wryly. "Is a date what you get the techno geek that already has all the latest tech?"

Kwan, for a moment, forgot they were talking about Tucker. From all their time studying with each other over the last three years, Danny had to realize that Kwan was pretty much as big a techno geek as his friend. He nearly choked when he thought Danny was asking that question about him instead of Tucker. His cheek grew warm, despite his attempts to fight back the blush. "Well, that could be one option." Kwan coughed. "Though maybe it's better to let Tucker ask Sam out himself."

"That could take a while." Danny frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Though I'm still not sure why they're playing this whole dancing game. Can't one of them just ask the other out already?"

Kwan felt, again, like Danny wasn't talking about just Sam and Tucker, but he knew that had to be only his imagination. "Perhaps they just need a nudge in the right direction." He chuckled awkwardly. "Well, if you think tech might not be the way to go, maybe you should think about looking for something that relates to one of Tucker's other interests. If he has any besides tech and Sam."

Danny laughed at that last comment. "Tech _is_ pretty much his life. Next to Sam, of course." He grinned a little at Kwan then frowned in thought. "Well, there is horror movies. And he likes video games. I think there's a new one he was talking about, maybe, a month ago. I'm not sure if he actually got it though."

Kwan checked his watch. "Tell you what. I get off in about ten minutes. Why don't you call up Sam and ask her if Tucker got the game or not?" He gave the store a quick glance to make sure there were no other customers looking for an employee to help them. "If he doesn't have it, we can hit the game store. Maybe after that, we can grab a bite to eat."

"And if he has the game?" Danny asked curiously, already pulling out his cell phone to make the call.

Kwan shrugged. "We hit the movie store and see if they have any great classic horror movies you could get him?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Danny grinned as he pounded in the number to call Sam. "I'll meet you outside, then?"

Kwan nodded and gave a wave as Danny headed toward the exit of the store, raising his phone to his ear. Then he swallowed nervously. Did he just arrange a sort of date with Danny? But did it count as a date if the other person didn't have any knowledge of it being a date? Or did Danny realize it was a date but didn't mind the fact that it was a date? He raked a hand through his hair, feeling like his head was spinning at those thoughts.

"He was cute," Caitlyn said, popping up beside Kwan and making him jump in surprise. With a chuckle, she pinched at his cheeks. "Aw! You're blushing! Do you _like_ him?"

"That's not really any of your business," Kwan said stiffly as he walked through the store, looking for anyone to help in the last moments of his shift.

"Come on, sweet cheeks!" Caitlyn caught him with an arm around his neck. "You can tell dear old Caitlyn." She grinned broadly, ruffling up his hair. "Were you making plans with your sweetheart?"

"Stop!" Kwan managed to wiggle his way free from her hold. His face was beet red as he tried to smooth out his hair. "You're so nosy."

"So does your boy know it's a date?" Caitlyn smirked widely at him as she leaned against a display case.

"It's not a date," Kwan argued, though part of him really wanted it to be. "I'm just helping him out with buying a birthday gift for his friend. Then we might grab a bite to eat. That's it. It's not a date."

"Right." Caitlyn nodded with a gleam in her green eyes. "Grabbing a meal with someone you like is never a date."

Kwan glanced at his watch. "Well, my shift is over now. Have fun working your double!" He waved, grinning at the scowl she sent him at that reminder. After stopping in the staff room, he grabbed his things, changing out of his work shirt and into a plain black shirt. He crammed his work shirt into his bag then left the store to find Danny, who wasn't that hard to find as he sat on the bench in front of the store's entrance.

"You look like you get along with your co-workers," Danny said with a laugh as he stood.

"Yeah, she just likes to tease me." Kwan shrugged. "So what did you find out?"

"Sam said he hasn't bought it yet." Danny shook his head with a cute smile tugging at his mouth as they started walking toward the video game store. "Apparently, she's listened to him whine about wanting to buy the game, but he spent too much of his money on his new phone."

"Well, at least you now know exactly what to get him for his birthday."

"Yeah, that's a load off my mind." Danny nodded his head in agreement. "So where should we go to eat?" They turned into GameGo, and Danny headed straight for the section where he knew the game would be.

"Well, there are plenty of choices." Kwan shrugged as he followed Danny around the store as the other man scanned for the game title. "Pizza at Mama Mia. Burgers at Five Alarm. Chinese at Express." He scratched at the back of his head, trying to remember what other quick food places were in the mall. "Unless you want to head over to Nasty Burger."

"We're already here," Danny said as he grabbed a game off the rack. "We might as well just grab something here. And pizza is sounding pretty good." He walked over to the register to pay for the game.

"So if Tucker's birthday isn't for two weeks, why are you buying his gift now?" Kwan asked, waiting as the chubby man behind the register rung up Danny's purchase.

"Well, I figure since I've got the time and the money right now, I should get his gift all paid for." Danny smiled politely at the man as he took the bag. "You know, in case something comes up later and I can't make it to a store to get something. Or worse, I don't have the money to buy it." He winced as if that had happened more than once.

"Thinking ahead." Kwan nodded. "Smart." They walked out of the game store and turned toward the food court. He turned over his thoughts for a moment. "When is your birthday?" He realized that, despite being sort of friends since sophomore year, the topic of birthdays hadn't actually come up.

Danny tilted his head as he glanced toward Kwan. "Huh. I guess we never told each other." He blinked in surprise. "My birthday isn't until August. It's the fourteenth."

Kwan nodded as he made a mental note of that. He would have to remember to get Danny something really great for his birthday. "Mine was back in November, on the seventh."

"Ah! You should have told me!" Danny frowned in disappointment as they reached the pizza place Mama Mia. "I would have gotten you something."

"We were all pretty busy at the time." Kwan shrugged, and they waited in line. "I wasn't really expecting anything anyway. It's mostly just Paulina and Dash that come over, and we hang out watching movies the whole night." The corner of his mouth stretched in to a crooked grin, and he leaned closer to Danny. "Dash always brings some pretty horrible romance dramas and then gets all huffy when Paulina and I tease him about it."

Danny burst out laughing, drawing some attention to them. "Oh! I wish I was there to see the look on his face!" He sobered up with a cough. "Though Dash would probably want to kick my ass for that."

"He would have had to get through me first," Kwan said, beating a fist to his puffed out chest. "And Paulina probably wouldn't have allowed it." When they reached the front of the line, Kwan ordered them a large pizza, asking what Danny liked on his before simply deciding on it himself. They ended up ordering a sausage, green peppers, pepperoni pizza. Then they went to sit at a table with their sodas.

"So," Danny said after swallowing a sip, "did you know about this date auction this Sam and Paulina are putting together?"

"Ah, so you found out about that?" Kwan relaxed a little to hear that. "I wanted to tell you about it, but," he scratched at a cheek in embarrassment, "Sam can be scary."

Danny laughed. "Yeah, tell me about it." He smiled in amusement. "Luckily, though, I managed to escape that."

"Oh?" Kwan's eyebrows lifted in curiosity. "Is there some secret I should know about? Because I'd like a chance to get out of it too."

Danny's smile fell a bit as his gaze slid sideways. "Well, I don't think you'd be able to use the same method. Sam sort of let the whole thing slip out by accident. So she said if I did the photo shoot for the posters without complaint, I could skip being in the auction."

"Drat!" Kwan snapped his fingers. "I guess I can't get out that way." He frowned as he placed his chin in his hand. "You don't think they'll need someone else to do the posters, do you?"

"From the way Paulina was talking?" Danny shook his head. "She seemed really set on this whole Cinderella, making your dreams come true theme for prom."

Kwan sighed, guessing he would have to resign to the fact that he was stuck being in the auction. When the girl came by to bring them their pizza, she let it drop with a splat on the table between them. Kwan didn't miss the dark circles under her brown eyes or the frizzy mess of her usually straight and shiny brunette hair.

"That's kind of weird," Kwan mumbled, his brow creasing as he followed the woman walking back toward the counter. "Francine is usually really friendly. This might not be her dream job, but she's happy enough with it if it means saving up enough money to buy that car she's been wanting since she turned sixteen."

"Well, I don't care!" Francine shouted when an older woman tried to speak to her. "I can't stand this job. I quit!" She yanked off the ridiculous white visor from her head and threw it down on the counter. Then she stormed out of the little pizzeria.

"Very weird," Danny agreed in a mumble, his gaze following the woman with some worry.

It wasn't the first strange occurrence. Kwan remembered the odd listlessness Star displayed and that strange boost of fighting confidence from Parker. What exactly was causing these changes to people's personalities? Kwan glanced toward Danny. Should he ask? Danny always seemed rather embarrass about his parents' work as ghost hunters, though that was more before ghosts started popping up all over the place. But if it was something ghost related, Phantom would take care of it. He hoped.

* * *

**Some Weird Chick**: Now you're making me nervous that this all building up to something spectacular, but then when I get to it, it's just going to fall flat and bomb. orz ;; *rubs hands together* But the next chapter should be pretty fun to write.

**midnight**: It was mostly to cover up any dark circles and blemishes! XD;; At least he's not wearing, like eyeliner and lipstick too. XD;;;

**Snowleopard0**: Haha, poor guy. XD;; At least he got some relaxing time in this chapter. Foreshadowing is always a possibility~ *shrugs* I guess Danny and Kwan isn't a very popular ship?

**Just Will**: That's what happens when you put Kwan on the spot. D8 *looks at title* Hm, it's a mystery where that idea came from~ XD;; Ah, Danny~ Always willing to help out if the ghost isn't causing trouble. 8) Yup, Paulina knows Kwan likes Danny. Well, it's kind of like everyone pretty much think Danny and Sam are still a thing because they have that locked in their brains from freshmen year. And Danny seems more relate-able to people?


End file.
